Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
540 / Cenozoic
Bathornis
Bathornis grallator
Long legs and a strong beak belonged to a terrestrial bird with little or no flight.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 34–28 million years ago
- Final stage
- Oligocene
- Geographic range
- Open grassland and woodland · North America
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Bathornis?
Bathornis (Bathornis grallator) was an extinct organism known from About 34–28 million years ago, with a range in Open grassland and woodland · North America.
Life and ecology
It ran through open country and ate small vertebrates, insects and carrion.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Bathornis disappear?
Oligocene climate change and turnover among mammalian predators are possible context; a specific cause is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Bathornis?
Legs, pelvis and partial skull constrain form; flight and diet remain cautious.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS