Named By: | Alvarenga in 1982 |
Time Period: | Late Oligocene - Early Miocene |
Location: | Brazil |
Size: | 2 meters high, 20 centmetre long skull |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Well-known specimens |
Classification: | | Chordata | Aves | Cariamae | Phorusrhacidae | Brontornithinae | |
Paraphysornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds" within the subfamily Brontornithinae that lived in Brazil. Its length was about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) and the skull had a length of 60 centimetres (24 in). The only known species is Paraphysornis brasiliensis. It lived 23 million years ago.