A new buzzard from the late Pliocene of Argentina

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• aves
• accipitriformes
• buteo
• zoophagy
• pliocene
• atlantic coast
• argentina