Bathornithidae

Bathornithidae is an extinct family of birds from the Eocene to Miocene of North America. Part of Cariamiformes, they are related to the still extant seriemas and the extinct Phorusrhacidae. They were likely similar in habits, being terrestrial, long-legged predators, some of which attained massive sizes.

Bathornithidae Temporal range: Late Eocene to Early Miocene 37–20 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Depiction of Bathornis grallator.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cariamiformes
Family:	†Bathornithidae J. Cracraft, 1968
Genera
†Bathornis ?†Eutreptornis ?†Paracrax

It has been suggested that most, if not all, North American Paleogene cariamiforme fossils are part of this group.^[1] Storrs Olson also referred the European Elaphrocnemus to this clade,^[2] though it has since been rejected.^[3] Conversely, some analysis have instead recovered them as a polyphyletic group, with Bathornis and kin being sister taxa to phorusrhacids while Paracrax is rendered closer to modern seriemas,^[4] though this assessment is heavily debated.^[5]

The most recent consensus is that Bathornithidae is relegated exclusively to Bathornis, as a clade of Cariamiformes outside of a clade including seriemas and phorusrhacids, as well as a possible European specimen. Paracrax and Eutreptornis are understood to be odd taxa whose cariamiform affinities are not fully resolved.^[6] A 2024 study however finds Bathornis as closer to seriemas than phorusrhacids were.^[7]

Biology

Though some forms like Paracrax wetmorei might have been capable of flight, most taxa were flightless,^[8] constituting examples of flightless birds in mammal dominated environments. Paracrax gigantea, Paracrax antiqua and the larger Bathornis species in particular might have occupied macropredatory niches akin to that of phorusrhacids, the former and latter reaching heights of over 2 m (6 ft 7 in)

Bathornis proper appears to have favoured wetland environments. It was a highly diverse genus, spanning a wide variety of species at various sizes, from the Eocene to the Miocene.^[9]

References

1. Gerald Mayr (2009). Paleogene Fossil Birds
2. Olson, Storrs L. (1985): Section X.A.I.b. The Tangle of the Bathornithidae. In: Farner, D.; King, J. & Parkes, K. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 146–150. Academic Press, New York.
3. Gerald Mayr (2009). Paleogene Fossil Birds
4. Federico L. Agnolin (2009). "Sistemática y Filogenia de las Aves Fororracoideas (Gruiformes, Cariamae)" (PDF). Fundación de Historia Natural Felix de Azara: 1–79.
5. Mayr, G., & Noriega, J. I. A well-preserved partial skeleton of the poorly known early Miocene seriema Noriegavis santacrucensis (Aves, Cariamidae). Acta palaeontologica Polonica, 60(3):589-598.
6. Mayr, G. (2016). "Osteology and phylogenetic affinities of the middle Eocene North American Bathornis grallator—one of the best represented, albeit least known Paleogene cariamiform birds (seriemas and allies)". Journal of Paleontology. 90 (2): 357–374. Bibcode:2016JPal...90..357M. doi:10.1017/jpa.2016.45. S2CID 88936361.
7. Thomas W. LaBarge, Jacob D. Gardner and Chris L. Organ, The evolution and ecology of gigantism in terror birds (Aves, Phorusrhacidae), Published:24 April 2024https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0235
8. Cracraft, J. (1968). "A review of the Bathornithidae (Aves, Gruiformes), with remarks on the relationships of the suborder Cariamae". American Museum Novitates (2326): 1–46. hdl:2246/2536.
9. Benton, R. C.; Terry, D. O.; Evanoff, E.; McDonald, H. G. (25 May 2015). The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-01608-9.