Phorusrhacos aka Terror Birds!

Phorusrhacids, accurately called terror birds (for very good reasons), are an extinct species family of large prehistoric carnivorous flightless birds that were one of the largest species of apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era. Their conventionally accepted temporal range covers from 62 to 1.8 million years ago,

Terror bird Kelenken (by Cyrille-Dethan)
Image Credit: Give it up for this Awesome Artwork created by the talented Cyrille Dethan.
Links: https://www.artstation.com/cyrilledethan
https://www.deviantart.com/cyrille-dethan/art/Terror-bird-Kelenken-435709451
3D Modeling Timelapse by Artist Cyrille Dethan: https://youtu.be/TY_evX2wvYo

Image Credit: Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum

Historic predators: An enclosed diorama by Blue Rhino Studio shows a terror bird, an extinct, flightless predatory bird that lived in the Ozarks. Terror birds are believed to have been very nimble and swift, and commonly hunted wild horses. 

Image Credit: ItsAllStock

https://www.deviantart.com/itsallstock/art/Terror-Bird-674186752

Terror Bird

(Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum)

Phorusrhacos aka Terror Birds! - Scenes from Walking with Beasts (2001)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the content in this video. All rights reserved to rightful owners.

Image Credit: ChrisMasna

https://www.deviantart.com/chrismasna/art/The-Bird-from-Andalgala-434615906

Andalgalornis is a genus of the extinct family Phorusrhacidae that lived in Argentina.

The type and only species is A. steulleti. Andalgalornis stood around one and a half meters tall.

Terror Bird Size Comparison Illustration.

Image Credit: Stephanie Abramowicz

Scientific Illustrator, Dinosaur Institute, 

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Phorusrhacos (Jurassic Park: Builder Artwork)

 Image Credit: Phorusrhacos - Jurassic Park: Builder

Phorusrhacos (Jurassic World Alive Artwork)

Image Credit: Phorusrhacos - Jurassic World Alive Wiki

The Bottom Line:

When it comes to Terror Birds, just like the Cenobites...

Gif Image Credit:

Halloween Horror GIF By Death Wish Coffee

https://media.giphy.com/media/gKUxR2UXTfNiLJnj6E/giphy.gif

References, bibliography & further reading:

Degrange FJ, Tambussi CP, Moreno K, Witmer LM, Wroe S. (2010) Mechanical Analysis of Feeding Behavior in the Extinct “Terror Bird” Andalgalornis steulleti (Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae). PLoS ONE 5(8): e11856. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011856

Bertelli, S., Chiappe, L. M., Tambussi, C. P. (2007) A new phorusrhacid (Aves, Cariamae) from the middle Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27:409–419.

Jones, W.; Rinderknecht, A.; Alvarenga, H.; Montenegro, F.; Ubilla, M. (2017). "The last terror birds (Aves, Phorusrhacidae): new evidence from the late Pleistocene of Uruguay". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 92 (2): 365–372. doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0388-y. S2CID 134344096. Note: their date of 96 thousand years BP is the maximum age, obtained from the bottom of the fossil-containing stratum.

 Ameghino, F (1889). "Contribuición al conocimiento de los mamíferos fósiles de la República Argentina". Actas Academia Nacional Ciencias de Córdoba (in Spanish). 6: 1–1028.

 Tambussi, C.; Ubilla, M.; Perea, D. (1999). "The youngest large carnassial bird (Phorusrhacidae, Phorusrhacinae) from South America (Pliocene–Early Pleistocene of Uruguay)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 19 (2): 404–406. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011154.

 Blanco, R. E.; Jones, W. W. (2005). "Terror birds on the run: a mechanical model to estimate its maximum running speed". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 272 (1574): 1769–1773. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3133. PMC 1559870. PMID 16096087.

 Woodburne, M. O. (2010-07-14). "The Great American Biotic Interchange: Dispersals, Tectonics, Climate, Sea Level and Holding Pens". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 17 (4): 245–264. doi:10.1007/s10914-010-9144-8. PMC 2987556. PMID 21125025.

 Baskin, J. A. (1995). "The giant flightless bird Titanis walleri (Aves: Phorusrhacidae) from the Pleistocene coastal plain of South Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 15 (4): 842–844. doi:10.1080/02724634.1995.10011266.

 MacFadden, Bruce J.; Labs-Hochstein, Joann; Hulbert, Richard C.; Baskin, Jon A. (2007). "Revised age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) in North America during the Great American Interchange". Geology. 35 (2): 123–126. Bibcode:2007Geo....35..123M. doi:10.1130/G23186A.1. S2CID 67762754.

 Alvarenga, H.; Jones, W.; Rinderknecht, A. (2010). "The youngest record of phorusrhacid birds (Aves, Phorusrhacidae) from the late Pleistocene of Uruguay" (PDF). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 256 (2): 229–234. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0052.

 Agnolin, F. (2013). La posición sistemática de Hermosiornis (Aves, Phororhacoidea) y sus implicancias filogenéticas. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales nueva serie, 15(1), 39-60.

 Mourer-Chauviré, C.; et al. (2011). "A Phororhacoid bird from the Eocene of Africa". Naturwissenschaften. 98 (10): 815–823. Bibcode:2011NW.....98..815M. doi:10.1007/s00114-011-0829-5. PMID 21874523. S2CID 19805809.

 Delphine Angst et al. (2013). A Large Phorusrhacid Bird From the Middle Eocene of France.

 Angst, D.; Buffetaut, E.; Lécuyer, C.; Amiot, R. (2013). ""Terror Birds" (Phorusrhacidae) from the Eocene of Europe Imply Trans-Tethys Dispersal". PLOS ONE. 8 (11): e80357. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...880357A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080357. PMC 3842325. PMID 24312212.

 Benton, R. C.; Terry, D. O. Jr.; Evanoff, E.; McDonald, H. G. (25 May 2015). The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology. Indiana University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0253016089.

 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.

 Federico L. Agnolin (2009). "Sistemática y Filogenia de las Aves Fororracoideas (Gruiformes, Cariamae)" (PDF). Fundación de Historia Natural Felix de Azara: 1–79.

 Mayr, G.; Noriega, J. (2013). "A well-preserved partial skeleton of the poorly known early Miocene seriema Noriegavis santacrucensis (Aves, Cariamidae)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.00011.2013.

 Tambussi, CP; de Mendoza, R; Degrange, FJ; Picasso, MB. (2013). "Flexibility along the Neck of the Neogene Terror Bird Andalgalornis steulleti (Aves Phorusrhacidae)". PLOS ONE. 7 (5): e37701. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037701. PMC 3360764. PMID 22662194.

 Bertelli, Sara; Chiappe, Luis M; Tambussi, Claudia (2007). "A New Phorusrhacid (Aves: Cariamae) from the Middle Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (2): 409–419. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[409:ANPACF]2.0.CO;2.

 Antón, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780253010421.

 Jones Grinberg, W. W. (2010). Nuevos aportes sobre la paleobiología de los fororrácidos (Aves: Phorusrhacidae) basados en el análisis de estructuras biológicas. Universidad de la República - Facultad de Ciencias, Uruguay (in Spanish).

 Bakker, Robert; et al. (1998). "Brontosaur Killers: Late Jurassic Allosaurids as Sabre-tooth Cat Analogues". GAIA. 15 (8): 145–158.

 Duane Nash, "Terror Birds Cometh: A New Hypothesis Unlocking Phorusrhacid Feeding Dynamics & Ecology", Antediluvian Salad, 02 September 2015, http://antediluviansalad.blogspot.ca/2015/09/terror-birds-cometh-new-theory.htm

 Wroe, Stephen; et al. (2010). "Mechanical Analysis Of Feeding Behavior In The Extinct "Terror Bird' Andalgalornis steulleti (Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae)". PLOS ONE. 5 (8): 1–7. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...511856D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011856. PMC 2923598. PMID 20805872.

 King, James L. Semicircular canal shape within Aves and non-avian Theropoda: Utilizing geometric morphometrics to correlate life history with canal cross-sectional shape.

 "Ancient "terror Bird" Used Powerful Beak to Jab like an Agile Boxer." OHIO: Research. Ohio Office of Research Communications, 18 Aug. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. http://www.ohio.edu/research/communications/terrorbirds.cfm.

 Ameghino, Florentino (1936). Torcelli, A.J. (ed.). Obras completas y correspondencia cientifica de Florentino Ameghino. 21. La Plata: Taller de Impresiones Oficiales. p. 573.

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 Marshall, Larry G. "The Terror Birds of South America." Scientific American Special Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. http://usuarios.geofisica.unam.mx/cecilia/cursos/TerrorBirds-Marshall94.pdf.

 Gasparini, Zulma (September 1984). "New Tertiary Sebecosuchia (Crocodylia: Mesosuchia) from Argentina". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 4 (1): 85–95. doi:10.1080/02724634.1984.10011988. JSTOR 4522967.

 Darren Naish, "Dumb Metatherians vs Evil, Smart Placentals", Dinosaur Mailing List, 30 May 2001, http://dml.cmnh.org/2001May/msg00530.html

 "Los prociónidos extinguidos del género Chapalmalania Ameghino".

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 Ben Creisler, "Phorusrhacos "wrinkle bearer (jaw)": Etymology and Meaning", Dinosaur Mailing List, 26 June 2012 http://dml.cmnh.org/2012Jun/msg00306.html

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