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Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Patagonian Miocene falcon Thegornis musculosus Ameghino, 1895 (Aves: Falconidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Jorge I. Noriega ,
Juan I. Areta ,
Sergio F. Vizcaíno  and
M. Susana Bargo
Jorge I. Noriega
Affiliation:
1CICYTTP-CONICET Materi y España, 3105 Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina, ,
Juan I. Areta
Affiliation:
1CICYTTP-CONICET Materi y España, 3105 Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina, ,
Sergio F. Vizcaíno
Affiliation:
2División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina. CONICET-CIC, ,
M. Susana Bargo
Affiliation:
2División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina. CONICET-CIC, ,
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Abstract

The fossil record of the family Falconidae is poor and fragmentary. Extinct representatives from South America include the late early Miocene (Santacrucian) Thegornis musculosus and Thegornis debilis. Both species were originally described as Falconidae and afterwards moved to Accipitridae Circinae or Buteoninae. The analysis of a very well preserved and complete specimen of T. musculosus with similar stratigraphic and geographic provenances of the type material (lower levels of Santa Cruz Formation, coast of Patagonia, Argentina) corroborates the validity of the genus and its falconid affinities. The skull and postcranial morphology exhibit strong resemblances with the open-savannah inhabiting Herpetotheres and the forest-dwelling Micrastur (Herpetotherinae) but differ substantially from Falconinae (Falconini plus Caracarini). Detailed comparisons with a broad arrange of falconiform taxa in a cladistic framework, confirm its phylogenetic placement within the Herpetotherinae and sister to H. cachinnans. The ecotonal margins produced by the vanishing of humid forests that developed during changes in Patagonian plant communities throughout early Neogene times are hypothesized as a plausible scenario to understand the evolution of this basal clade of falcons.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 85 , Issue 6 , November 2011 , pp. 1089 - 1104
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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