A new buzzard from the late Pliocene of Argentina
Federico J. Degrange, Claudia P. Tambussi, Matías L. Taglioretti, and Fernando A. Scaglia
We describe a new species of a large buzzard (Accipitridae), Buteo dondasi sp. nov. from the late Pliocene of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina represented by an incomplete left hind limb, including a distal fragment of tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus, fragment of os metatarsale I, and toes I and II. The new taxon exhibits characteristics of the crown group Accipitridae and the shape of the tarsometarsus allows its assignment to the genus Buteo. The new species represents the very first record of a representative of a non-scavenging diurnal bird of prey for the Chapadmalalan and one of the largest accipitrids (~ 2.3 kg) known for Argentina.
Key words: Aves, Accipitriformes, Buteo , zoophagy, Pliocene, Atlantic coast, Argentina.
Federico J. Degrange [fjdino@gmail.com](corresponding autor) and Claudia P. Tambussi [tambussi.claudia@conicet.gov.ar], Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra (CICTERRA), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Avenida Vélez Sársfield 1611, X5016GCA, Córdoba, Argentina. Matías L. Taglioretti [paleomat@gmail.com], Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Lorenzo Scaglia, Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario (CIC-UNMdP), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Deán Funes 3250, B7602AYJ, Mar del Plata, Argentina. Fernando A. Scaglia [feroscaglia@gmail.com], Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Lorenzo Scaglia, Av. Libertad 3099, B7600HJB, Mar del Plata, Argentina.
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