Cathartes Illiger

Nascimento, Rafael S. & Silveira, Luís Fábio, 2024, Fossil and subfossil birds of Brazil, Zoologia (e 23079) 41, pp. 1-234 : 149-155

Cathartes Illiger

487. Cathartes aura (Linnaeus)

Quaternary – BA, MG, RJ, RN

Cathartes aura – Winge 1887: 31.

Vulturides [in part] – Goeldi 1894: 76.

Cathartes aura – Lambrecht 1933: 744.

Cathartes aura – Brodkorb 1964: 257.

Cathartes aura – Mones 1986: 82.

Cathartes aura – Cuello 1988: 36.

Cathartes aura – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) reported some possibly associated leg bones from Lapa da Escrivânia V, bones of apparently a single individual from Lapa da Escrivânia XI, and two tarsometatarsi from Lapa da Lagoa do Sumidouro, from an adult and a young specimen. The total material is represented by the scapula, coracoid, humerus, ulna, carpal [27],

tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus.

Falconiformes – Kneip et al. 1989a: 126.

Cathartes aura – Kneip et al. 1989b: 662.

Cathartes aura – Kneip et al. 1994: 50.

Kneip et al. (1989b, 1994) reported two bones of at least one individual from layer II (4,160±180 years BP) of

Sambaqui da Beirada in Saquarema , Rio de Janeiro .

Cathartes aura [in part] – Costa et al. 2023a: 140.

Cathartes aura – Costa et al. 2023b: 35.

Costa et al. (2023a) reported the proximal end of a right carpometacarpus of quaternary age from Ravina das Araras in the karstic area of Lajedo de Soledade in Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte. The fossil was collected in 2019 by a joint fieldwork of Laboratório de Paleontologia of Faculdade de Geologia of UERJ and researchers of UERN and UFRJ. Later, Costa et al. (2023b) further associated with this species a tibiotarsus fragment from the same area, without specifying if it is from Ravina das Araras or Ravina do Leon.

Cathartes aura – Leoni et al. 2024: 3, figs 2–3.

Leoni et al. (2024) reported several elements from Toca da Boa Vista in Campo Formoso, Bahia. The material comprises a cranial fragment (LEG 2288), three cervical vertebrae (LEG 2890, LEG 2891, and LEG 2892), sternum (LEG 2297), furcula (LEG 2295), distal fragment of the left coracoid (LEG 2303), distal fragment of the right coracoid (LEG 2294), scapula (LEG 2305), distal fragment of the left humerus (LEG 2301), proximal fragment of the right humerus (LEG 2296), distal fragment of the left ulna (LEG 2300), distal fragments of the right ulna (LEG 2308 and LEG 2312), a well-preserved right carpometacarpus (LEG 2311), synsacrum (LEG 2289), proximal fragment of the left femur (LEG 2307), fragments of the right tibiotarsus (LEG 2310 and LEG 2313), and proximal fragment of the right tarsometatarsus (LEG 2293). The bones were found disarticulated in a corridor about 2 to 2.5 kilometers from the cave entrance, where the individual probably died. Markings present in the LEG 2308 ulna and the LEG 2310 tibiotarsus were associated with the ichnospecies Nihilichnus nihilicus and were likely made by a small felid such as Leopardus tigrinus or Herpailurus yagouaroundi .

† Brasilogyps Alvarenga

488. † Brasilogyps faustoi Alvarenga

Late Oligocene/Early Miocene – SP

Fig. 32C

Type locality: Taubaté sedimentary basin: municipality of Tremembé , state of São Paulo, Brazil .

Etymology: Brasilogyps , with the Greek gyps, “Brazilian vulture”, and faustoi , honoring Brazilian paleontologist Fausto Luiz de Souza Cunha (1926–2000) (MN), for his work done in the Taubaté Basin and support given to Alvarenga’s research.

Brasilogyps faustoi , sp. n. [new genus and species] – Alvarenga 1985b: 349–357, figs 1–2, 3A, 4, 5A, 6C, 7A.

Brasilogyps faustoi – Mones 1986: 82.

Brasilogyps faustoi – Cuello 1988: 11.

Brasilogyps faustoi – Alvarenga 1993a: 62.

Brasilogyps faustoi – Alvarenga 1997: 123.

Brasilogyps faustoi – Kellner 1998: 654, 659.

Brasilogyps faustoi – Alvarenga and Höfling 2000: 589. Brasilogyps faustoi – Alvarenga and Höfling 2004: 827. Brasilogyps faustoi – Alvarenga and Höfling 2011: 127. Brasilogyps faustoi – Carmo et al. 2024: 5, fig. 3C–D.

Alvarenga (1985b) described this new genus and species from two associated bone fragments collected in January 1978 in the montmorillonite clays of the Tremembé Formation in the Fazenda Santa Fé.

The material (MN 4045-V, holotype) consists of the distal end of a right tibiotarsus with a significantly worn extremity and the proximal end of a right tarsometatarsus. The study of the material demonstrated a greater proximity to Coragyps , being slightly larger and more robust than Coragyps occidentalis , from the Quaternary of North America, which was larger than the living Coragyps atratus ( Alvarenga 1985b, Brodkorb 1964).

Its age and geographical origin are valuable for understanding the evolution of cathartids. It is the oldest known cathartid from South America ( Alvarenga 1993b, 1997, Alvarenga et al. 2008, Tambussi and Degrange 2013, Mayr 2016), or even in the Americas as a whole, if Phasmagyps patritus from the Eocene of Colorado is not in fact a member of this family, as noted by Olson (1985b) regarding its problematic systematic position.

† Wingegyps Alvarenga & Olson

489. † Wingegyps cartellei Alvarenga & Olson

Quaternary – BA, MG

Figs 27I–P, 35D

Type locality: Brazil, Bahia State , Município de Morro do Chapéu, Gruta dos Brejões (11°00’30”S, 41°26’07”W), elevation ca. 600m.

Etymology: Wingegyps , with the Greek gyps, “Winge’s vulture”, honoring ornithologist Oluf Winge for his perspicacity in recognizing the distinctiveness of the fossils, and cartellei , honoring Spanish-Brazilian paleontologist Cástor Cartelle Guerra (PUC Minas), in recognition for his excavations at Gruta dos Brejões and his contributions to Brazilian paleontology.

Cathartes – Lund (in Winge 1887): 33.

G. sp. indet. magnitudine Catharistae atrati – Winge 1887: 33–34, fig. 7.

“um Urubú do tamanho de Cathartes aura ” [?] – Goeldi 1894: 76. “einen angeblich ausgestorbenen Vertreter der Cathartidae ” – Lambrecht 1921: 29.

Cathartidarum gen. sp. indet. [in part] – Lambrecht 1933: 397. Gen. sp. indet. – Lambrecht 1933: 744.

Catharistes urubu (?) – Lambrecht 1933: 744.

Cathartidarum – Fisher 1944: 294.

Coragyps atratus (?) – Brodkorb 1964: 257.

Wingegyps cartellei , new species [new genus and species] [in part] – Alvarenga and Olson 2004: 1–9, figs 3–4.

Wingegyps cartellei [in part] – Alvarenga and Höfling 2011: 127. “ Wingegyps (Amazonian Vulture) ” – Campbell 2016: 120–121. Wingegyps cartellei – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491, fig. 5A–C.

Winge (1887) described in detail two bones of similar aspect (determined as “ Cathartes ” in Lund’s catalog) from Lapa do Tiú [35], the distal half of a right humerus (ZMUC 1116) and the proximal end of a right ulna (ZMUC 1118). The [35] We were not able to find this site’s location. It is not the site with the same name in the municipality of Lassance, Minas Gerais, about 260 km from Lagoa Santa. humerus notably diverges from the known living cathartids, but Winge did not attribute the material to a new genus or species and referred to it just as a cathartid of similar size to Coragyps atratus . An illustration of the humerus was included, in which it was compared with a fossil humerus of C. atratus also found by Lund.

Before the description by Alvarenga and Olson (see below), there was some confusion regarding how this material was referred to. Lambrecht (1933: 397) mentioned the humerus as “ Cathartidarum gen. sp. indet.” (“undetermined cathartid genus and species”) and even listed unrelated material from France with a similar provisional term (“ Cathartidarum gen. inc.”). The same material from Lapa do Tiú was mentioned as “Gen. sp. indet.” of Cathartidae in the same study ( Lambrecht 1933: 744). The first term, however, was used as a genus by Fisher (1944: 294), who wrote “ Cathartidarum is the genus erected for a Pleistocene humerus from Lagoa Santa, Brazil, by Winge (1888)” and“It is about the size of ‘ Cathartes atratus’ ”. Although he did not cite Lambrecht’s study, the mentioned information is the same found there. He also noted ( Fisher 1944: 295) that, if it is a valid genus, “it is the oldest member of the King Vulture group, and is probably a close relative of S. papa ”. Fisher based his assumption of affinity on Miller (1931), who only noted that one species close to the king vulture was found in Brazilian Pleistocene cave deposits. Miller did not specify which cathartid remains described by Winge he was referring to, but it was likely the fossils determined as Gyparchus papa et aff. ( v. sim .) and not the material mentioned by Lambrecht. Tordoff (1959) kept the name used by Fisher and the same interpretation of Miller’s text, although he noted he did not consult Winge’s study. The name was also kept in publications ( Wing 1956, Stager 1964) that reused the phylogenetic tree presented by Fisher. Despite predating Wingegyps , the circumstances in which Fisher used the name as a genus for the humerus from Lapa do Tiú are not valid according to the norms of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (2000: Art. 13.3). Emslie (1988) mentioned “ Cathartidarum ” as a “species” that is no longer considered a member of this family when commenting on the use of fossil species in systematics analysis of Cathartidae (including Fisher’s).

Wingegyps cartellei , new species [new genus and species] [in part] – Alvarenga and Olson 2004: 1–9, figs 1–4.

Wingegyps cartellei [in part] – Alvarenga and Höfling 2011: 127.

Alvarenga and Olson (2004), while identifying bird bones from Gruta dos Brejões in Morro do Chapéu, Bahia, noticed an ovoid-shaped skull similar to that of Gymnogyps , but much smaller, and two humeri, probably belonging to the same species as the skull, of which a well-preserved distal fragment appeared to be identical to the specimen illustrat- ed by Winge (1887). The reanalysis of the bones discovered by Lund confirmed that this is indeed a new taxon, and, along with the inclusion of the material from Bahia, the genus and species Wingegyps cartellei were erected.

The material found in Bahia comprises an incomplete neurocranium ( MCL A 782 , holotype), a complete but very worn left humerus ( MCL A 670 ), and the distal third of another left humerus ( MCL A 1678 ). It was dated about 12,200 years BP based on that of a giant sloth coprolite found in the same locality and associated mammalian megafauna found in the caves of Bahia and Minas Gerais .

The species is closer to condors, especially Gymnogyps , than to the smaller genera of the family (i.e., Cathartes and Coragyps ), which are basically differentiated by skull morphology ( Alvarenga and Olson 2004). However, it is much smaller than any known condor and slightly smaller than Cathartes burrovianus , the smallest living cathartid. The length from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail was estimated at 50 cm and the wingspan at 130 cm ( Pivetta 2003). The discovery of Wingegyps highlights that the condors had a much greater range of sizes in the past.

Its distribution range was probably much wider than the extent of the two geographical points where its remains are known. Had it been collected in any other deposit, it might have been treated as Cathartes or Coragyps due to its reduced size. Three complete coracoids, two incomplete humeri, and one complete humerus of an undescribed Wingegyps species were reported by Steadman et al. (2015) from the late Pleistocene of the asphalt deposit of Mene de Inciarte in Mara, Zulia, northwestern Venezuela.

Alvarenga and Olson postulated that W. cartellei could hardly process most of the carcasses or compete for them with other vulture species because of its small size. If, like other condors, it did not possess the olfactory capabilities of the Cathartes species, it would also have had difficulty competing with them for smaller carcasses. It could, however, have harvested the fruits of palm trees, a niche best exploited in the Old World by the accipitrid Gypohierax angolensis in Africa, which consumes the soft mesocarp of the African oil palm Elaeis guineensis . This niche is also present in Brazil through the consumption of the fruits of this same species (which was introduced) by Cathartes aura , which also feeds on the macaúba palm Acrocomia aculeata , a native species whose broad geographical distribution coincides with the known past range of W. cartellei . The authors added that, although this small condor may have occupied this niche, its habits may have been similar to those of the accipitrid Neophron percnopterus , which consumes scraps of carcasses left by larger vultures. This behavior could explain its extinction since many New World scavenging birds disappeared alongside the mammalian megafauna.

† Pleistovultur Alvarenga, Brito, Migotto, Hubbe & Höfling

490. † Pleistovultur nevesi Alvarenga, Brito, Migotto, Hubbe & Höfling

Quaternary – MG, RN

Figs 26E–G, 35C

Type locality: Brazil, Minas Gerais State, Municipality of Matozinhos, Gruta Cuvieri (19º28’36”S, 44º00’41”W), elevation ca. 812m.

Etymology: Pleistovultur , a portmanteau of Pleistocene and the genus Vultur , “Pleistocene condor”, and nevesi , honoring Brazilian anthropologist Walter Alves Neves (LEEH-IB-USP), responsible for the team that collected and forwarded the fossil to the authors.

“new extinct genus” – Migotto and Alvarenga 2007: 29 R. Pleistovultur nevesi sp. nov. [new genus and species] – Alvarenga et al. 2008: 613–618, fig. 2.

Pleistovultur nevesi – Alvarenga and Höfling 2011: 127. Pleistovultur nevesi – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491, fig. 5D–E.

Alvarenga et al. (2008) described this new genus and species of large condor from a right tibiotarsus (MHNT- VT-5238) collected by Alex Hubbe around July 2005 in the Lo - cus 1 of Gruta Cuvieri (A. Hubbe, personal communication) in Matozinhos, Minas Gerais. The bone is well-preserved and apparently belongs to an adult individual, 25% larger than in Sarcoramphus and 11% smaller than in Vultur . Its existence was first alluded to by Migotto and Alvarenga (2007).

The assignment of this material to the late Pleistocene or the early Holocene was defined based on associated faunal remains present in the same cave (two Scelidodon ground sloths were dated about 9,990 and 12,510 years BP) and adjacent ones previously dated since the taphonomic conditions of the specimen could not be adequately determined due to previous work carried out on the site. Other materials possibly referable to this taxon were described in the literature (see Cathartidae indet. 1 and Vultur gryphus ).

Its discovery adds to the great diversity of cathartids in South America during the Pleistocene, and the disappearance of the megafauna has certainly led many of these species to extinction.

Pleistovultur nevesi – Costa et al. 2023a: 140.

Pleistovultur nevesi – Costa et al. 2023b: 35.

Costa et al. (2023a) associated with this species the distal end of a right tibiotarsus of quaternary age from Ravina do Leon in the karstic area of Lajedo de Soledade ( Fig. 1.18) in Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte. The fossil was collected in 1993 by Prof. Leon Diniz Dantas de Oliveira and his staff and considerably expanded the species’ known distribution range.

† Teratornithidae Miller

† Taubatornis Olson & Alvarenga 491. † Taubatornis campbelli Olson & Alvarenga

Late Oligocene/Early Miocene – SP

Figs 28, 32D

Type locality: Brazil, São Paulo State, 2 km NE of Tremembé, Santa Fé Farm (22°30’S, 45°32’W) .

Etymology: Taubatornis , with Greek ornis, “bird of Taubaté”, and campbelli , honoring American paleontologist Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr. (1943–) (LACM), in recognition of his contributions to the knowledge of the teratornithids.

Taubatornis campbelli , new species [new genus and species] – Olson and Alvarenga 2002: 701–705, figs 1–2.

Taubatornis campbelli – Alvarenga and Höfling 2011: 127. Taubatornis campbelli – Carmo et al. 2024: 5, fig. 3E–F.

Olson and Alvarenga (2002) described this new genus and species from two fragments from the montmorillonite clays of the Tremembé Formation of the Fazenda Santa Fé, about 4 m below the uppermost level of the shales. It is the smallest teratornithid known so far, but a large bird nevertheless, and the only one described for the Brazilian territory. Its wingspan was estimated at 1.9 m ( Pivetta 2003).

The material consists of the distal end of a right tibiotarsus (MHNT-VT-5154, holotype) and the proximal end of a left ulna lacking part of the olecranon (MHNT-VT-5155, paratype).

As observed with other teratornithid occurrences, it was found syntopic with cathartid fossils ( Brasilogyps faustoi ). The shales of the lacustrine environment of the Tremembé Formation suggest an alternation between wet and dry seasons, resulting in the periodic mortality of large numbers of small fishes, which may have been responsible for the presence of these birds.

It constitutes the oldest record for the family, about 25 million years older than the next oldest member, the 6 million years old gigantic Argentavis magnificens of the Miocene of Argentina, and reinforces the theory that this family originated in South America ( Olson and Alvarenga 2002, AgnolÍn 2016b).

Accipitriformes Bonaparte 492. Accipitriformes indet.

Quaternary – RN

Accipitriformes indet. – Costa et al. 2023b: 35.

Costa et al. (2023b) associated with an accipitriform two ungual phalanges from material found in two sites

(Ravina do Leon and Ravina das Araras) of the Lajedo de Soledade karstic area in Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte.

Accipitridae Vigors

493. Accipitridae indet. 1

Quaternary – MG

Thrasaëtus ? sp. – Winge 1887: 35–36.

Buteonines [in part] – Goeldi 1894: 76.

Thrasaëtus sp. – Lambrecht 1933: 747.

Harpia harpyja – Brodkorb 1964: 283.

Harpia harpyja [ Thrasaetus ? sp.]- Mones 1986: 84.

Harpia harpyja – Cuello 1988: 39.

Harpia harpyja – Penido et al. 2012: 8.

Harpia harpyja – Penido et al. 2013: 117.

Accipitridae indet. 1 – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) reported the distal end of an ulna of unknown origin. He noted it is somewhat larger than in Haliaeetus albicilla , Aquila chrysaetos , and Trigonoceps occipitalis , smaller than in Gyps fulvus, and close to Gypaetus barbatus . Its shape is very close to that of Buteo and even more so to that of Spizaetus ( S. ornatus and S. tyrannus ). He concluded that, of the living South American species, one can think of Harpia harpyja and Urubitinga coronata , although only the first was known from the Lagoa Santa region.

494. Accipitridae indet. 2

Quaternary – MG

Buteonin. indet., s. Tillaeg til Buteoninae [“LØb (nederste Ende) og Mellemhaand (Øverste Ende); en god Del stØrre end hos Buteo (Asturina) nattereri ”] – Winge 1887: 15, 36.

Buteo sp. [in part] – Lambrecht 1933: 748.

Accipiter sp. [?; in part?] – Mones 1986: 83.

Accipitridae indet. 2 – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) reported the distal end of a tarsometatarsus and the proximal end of a carpometacarpus from “various caves” [26]. He noted that they are significantly larger than those of Rupornis magnirostris nattereri .

495. Accipitridae indet. 3

Quaternary – MG

Buteonin. sp. indet., s. Anm. til Buteoninae [“Et Albueben (Stump) og et Taaled af en Art af lignende StØrrelse som foregaaende”] – Winge 1887: 13, 36.

Buteo sp. [in part] – Lambrecht 1933: 748.

Accipiter sp. [?; in part?] – Mones 1986: 83.

Accipitridae indet. 3 – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) reported the fragment of an ulna and a pedal phalanx from Lapa da Lagoa do Sumidouro, similar in size to the previous one.

496. Accipitridae indet. 4

Quaternary – MG

“Baekken og Ravnenaebsben. StØrrelse nogenlunde svarende til de foregaaende” – Winge 1887: 37.

Buteo sp. [in part] – Lambrecht 1933: 748.

Accipiter sp. [?; in part?] – Mones 1986: 83.

Accipitridae indet. 4 – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) reported a pelvis and a coracoid from

Lapa da Escrivânia V, roughly equivalent in size to the previous two. Besides these three indeterminate accipitrids he described along with the other remains of this family, he mentioned the existence of several other fragments.

497. Accipitridae indet. (spp.?) 5

Late Holocene – RJ

Accipitridae [in part] – Carvalho 1984: 123.

Accipitridae [in part] – Carvalho 1984: 127.

Carvalho (1984) reported three accipitrid ulnae, worked in two different manners, among the material discovered in 1978 at the Corondó site (RJ-JC-64) in São Pedro da Aldeia, Rio de Janeiro.

498. Accipitridae indet. 6

Late Holocene – SE

“ave de rapina, de tamanho avantajado (possivelmente uma harpia)” – Queiroz and Chaix 1999: 52–53, fig. 32. “falconiforme” – Carvalho et al. 2002: 278.

“falconidé” – Queiroz and Carvalho 2005: 131, figs 3–4.

Queiroz and Chaix (1999) reported remains of a large bird of prey, “possibly a harpy eagle”, found in 1998 in association with adult male human remains ( Carvalho et al. 2002) in a large ceramic pot from burial 34 of the Justino site in Canindé de São Francisco, Sergipe. They described the material as a dissociated cranium and beak, a humerus and a tarsometatarsus found over the abdomen of the human body, and another humerus buried vertically in the sediment. Queiroz and Carvalho (2005) reported it to consist of cranial bones, the beak, the left humerus, the left femur, and the left tarsometatarsus. The material was radiocarbon-dated at 1770±60 years and is deposited in the MAX collection. By the size of the bones, this specimen and the one described below are referred to as accipitrids here despite being called “falconids”.

499. Accipitridae indet. 7

Late Holocene – SE

“ave de rapina” – Carvalho et al. 2002: 279, fig 1.

“rapace falconidé indéterminé” – Queiroz and Carvalho 2005: 132, figs 7–8.

“ave de rapina” – Cardoso 2015: 26–27, fig. 3.

“ave de rapina” – Queiroz et al. 2017: 67–68, fig. 5.

Carvalho et al. (2002) briefly mentioned and depicted articulated remains of a medium-sized bird of prey found in burial 166 of the Justino site in Canindé de São Francisco, Sergipe. It was found in 1998, in the body of an adult human of indeterminate sex. The beak, a coracoid, the wing bones, some ribs, the pelvic girdle, and some hindlimb bones were later identified ( Queiroz and Carvalho 2005). Cardoso (2015) noted that a deeper analysis of the material was not possible as it would compromise its integrity. It was radiocarbon-dated at 1770±60 years ( Queiroz and Carvalho 2005) and is deposited in the MAX collection.

Besides these accipitrid and ciconiid remains (see Ciconiidae indet. 3), two humeri and a tibiotarsus of another bird were found in burial 131, but they could not be determined due to the lack of comparative material (they were depicted in figure 34 of Queiroz and Chaix 1999). Additionally, remains of a mustelid were found in similar association with human remains in burial 119. The presence of these animals in the burials may indicate a ritual connotation, possibly as psychopomps, and constitute the only known cases of this nature in Brazil ( Queiroz et al. 2017).

500. Accipitridae indet. 8

Quaternary – BA

Accipitridae – Silva and Cozzuol 2010: 111.

Silva and Cozzuol (2010) associated with this family an incomplete tarsometatarsus lacking the proximal epiphysis among material found in the 1980s at Toca da Boa Vista in Campo Formoso, Bahia. The fossil is deposited in the MHNJB/UFMG collection.

501. Accipitridae indet. 9

Quaternary – CE

Fig. 18D–F

“Neornithes: indeterminadas” [in part] – Souza Cunha 1961: 5. “Neornithes, Ordens e gêneros indeterminados” [in part] – Paula Couto 1961: 8.

“aves (indeterminadas)” [?; in part] – Paula Couto 1962: XIX. “ Aves Neornithes ” [?; in part] – Paula Couto 1978b: 429. “Neognathae, Undeterminated” [?; in part] – Paula Couto 1980: 145.

“ Aves neornites” [?; in part] – Silva Santos 1982: 118. Neognathae indet. [?; in part] – Ximenes 2009: 472. Neognathae indet. [?; in part] – Souto and Carvalho 2010: 116.

“gavião fóssil” [in part] – Metello and Araújo Júnior 2012: 18. “gavião fóssil” [in part] – Metello and Araújo Júnior 2013: 69–70.

Acciptriformes indet. [sic] [in part] – Araújo Júnior 2015: 193. Acciptriformes indet. [sic] [in part] – Araújo Júnior 2016: 150, fig. 2B.

“bird remains” [in part] – Patusco et al. 2016a: 190.

“aves” [in part] – Patusco et al. 2016b: 274.

Acciptriformes indet. [sic] [in part] – Waldherr et al. 2017: 471. Acciptriformes indet. [sic] [in part] – Waldherr et al. 2019: 115. Accipitridae indet. – Costa et al. 2024: 2, fig. 2A, D–E, H–I.

Metello and Araujó Junior (2012, 2013) associated with a hawk remains of pleistocenic age found in tank 2 of the João Cativo locality in Itapipoca, Ceará. They initially attributed to a single individual four well-preserved cervical vertebrae (MN 3326-V [36]), the distal end of a right tarsometatarsus (MN 3275-V), a complete ungual phalanx (MN 3263-V), a hallux (MN 3265-V [37]), and still-indeterminate fragments (MN 3270-V, MN 3271-V, MN 3272-V, MN 3273-V, MN 3293-V, and MN 3294-V).

The mentioned material represents multiple, disparate species, and part of it does not belong to birds. Costa et al. (2024) attributed to Accipitridae only the ungual phalanx MN 3263-V and phalanges MN 3266-V, MN 3267-V, and MN 3268-V; the fragment of tarsometatarsus MN 3275-V was assigned to Rhea americana .

502. Accipitridae indet. (spp.?) 10

Holocene – PR

Accipitridae indet. – Mendes and Rodrigues 2024: 8.

Mendes and Rodrigues (2024) reported two indeterminate accipitrid bones from the Toral 51 and Guaraguaçu B sambaquis of Paranaguá and Pontal do Paraná, respectively, in Paraná.

Gypaetinae Bonaparte Chondrohierax Lesson

503. Chondrohierax uncinatus (Temminck)

Quaternary – MG

Cymindis uncinatus – Winge 1887: 35.

Buteonines [in part] – Goeldi 1894: 76.

Cymindis (Regerhinus) uncinnatus – Lambrecht 1933: 751. Chondrohierax uncinatus – Brodkorb 1964: 288.

Chondrohierax uncinatus – Mones 1986: 84.

Chondrohierax uncinatus – Cuello 1988: 37.

Cymindis uncinatus – Penido et al. 2012: 8.

Cymindis uncinatus – Penido et al. 2013: 117.

Chondrohierax uncinatus – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) reported a right femur and a left tibiotarsus of unknown origin. The tibiotarsus corresponds well to Chondrohierax uncinatus , although insignificantly larger and more robust and presenting small, probably individual variation. Leptodon cayanensis has a similar but larger and slightly more robust tibiotarsus. The femur, of which there was no comparative correspondent of C. uncinatus , is very similar to that of L. cayanensis , except for the much smaller size. Winge also noted that the tibiotarsus of Elanoides forficatus is different but still close, and Elanus and Ictinia are very different from the preceding.

Accipitrinae Vigors Accipiter Brisson

504. Accipiter sp.

Quaternary – MG

Accipiter sp. , magnitudine A. nisi ♀, forte A. pileatus ♂ – Winge 1887: 36.

Buteonines [in part] – Goeldi 1894: 76.

Accipiter sp. – Lambrecht 1933: 749.

Accipiter sp. [in part?] – Mones 1986: 83.

Accipiter bicolor – Penido et al. 2012: 8.

Accipiter bicolor – Penido et al. 2013: 117.

Accipiter sp. – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 491.

Winge (1887) determined the proximal and distal ends of a right tarsometatarsus of unknown origin as belonging to a bird of this genus, of size comparable to that of a female Accipiter nisus , probably a male Accipiter bicolor pileatus .

505. Accipiter bicolor (Vieillot)

Quaternary – PI

Accipitridae [in part] – Guérin et al. 1993a: 198.

Accipitridae [in part] – Guérin et al. 1993b: 328.

Accipiter bicolor – Guérin et al. 1996: 84.

Accipiter bicolor – Guérin et al. 2002: 136.

Guérin et al. (1996) reported this species from Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião. At least one adult individual is present in the material.