Devincenzia pozzi (Kraglievich, 1931)

Alvarenga, Herculano M. F. & Höfling, Elizabeth, 2003, Systematic Revision Of The Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43 (4), pp. 55-91 : 74-75

Devincenzia pozzi (Kraglievich, 1931) . comb. n.

Phororhacos pozzi Kraglievich, 1931:306 .

Phororhacos longissimus mendocinus Kragkievich, 1931:314 ; syn. n. Devincenzia gallinali Kraglievich, 1932:323 , 338; syn. n.

Onactornis depressus Cabrera, 1939:15 ; Brodkorb, 1967 (syn. of O. pozzi ).

Onactornis pozzi ; Brodkorb,1967:165; syn. n.

Onactornis mendocinus ; Brodkorb, 1967:166; syn. n.

Type – Distal portion of the right tarsometatarsus ( Fig. 22A ), associated to the ungual phalanx of digit II (MACN-6554 and 6681) .

Hypodigm – Type; a skull much deformed by dorsoventral flattening, most of the upper maxilla being incomplete ( Fig. 23A ), together with the proximal phalanges of digits II and III (MLP-37-III-7-8), type of Onactornis depressus Cabrera, 1939 ; right tarsometatarsus, without the inner trochlea and a large part of the hypotarsus (MNHN-M-189, Fig. 2F ), type of Devincenzia gallinali (Kraglievich, 1932) ; fragment of the madibular symphysis (MACN-6933), described by Kraglievich (1931) as Phororhacos? aff. platygnathus; proximal portion of a right femur, with the head missing (MACN-6930); distal portion of the left tibiotarsus (MACN-13243).

Horizon and Locality – Upper Miocene to the Lower Pliocene of Argentina, Provinces of Buenos Aires and Entre Rios (Huayquerian and “Mesopotamian”) and Uruguay (Arroyo Roman?).

Measurements – Table 6; Kraglievich, 1931; Patterson & Kraglievich, 1960.

Ilustrations – Kraglievich (1931 and 1932) and Cabrera (1939).

Remarks – Tambussi et al. (1999) described an almost complete right tibiotarsus (MNHN-M-1563) about 720 mm long, coming from the Raigon Formation (Pliocene) of south Uruguay. In this specimen the cnemial crests are extremely large and cranially projected, in a similar way to what occurrs in Titanis walleri (UF-7333), and different from what occurs with Brontornithinae . This tibiotarsus should be assigned to the genus Devincenzia and very probably to D. pozzi by the characters of a Phorusrhacinae , the size, age and geographic distribution. Unfortunatelly there is no sufficient material for a definite comparison. Another question would be a better definition of the difference in age between the sediments of the Raigon Formation of Uruguay with the Huayquerian and “Mesopotamian” of Argentina, as well as a new study on the possibility that the tarsometatarsus type of D. gallinali (Kraglievich, 1932) , may have also been collected in the Raigon Formation and not in the Arroyo Román as supposed by Kraglievich (1932).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Dorsal view of the tarsometatarsi of the Brontornithinae (A-D) and Phorusrhacinae (E-F):A - Physornis fortis (MACN-A-52-185); B - Paraphysornis brasiliensis (DGM-1418-R); C - Brontornis burmeisteri (FM-P13259); D - Brontornis burmeisteri (lectotype MLP-91); E - Phorusrhacos longissimus (MLP-76.V.10.11, type of Liornis minor Dolgopol de Saez, 1927); F - Devincenzia pozzi (MNHN-M-189, type of Devincenzia gallinali Kraglievich, 1932).A-D left side; E-F right side.

FIGURE 22. Right tarsometatarsus (distal end) of the Phorusrhacinae: A - Devincenzia pozzi (type: MACN-6554); B - Phorusrhacos longissimus (MLP-132) and C - Titanis walleri (type: UF-4108).Dorsal (above) and plantar (below) views.Note in Titanis a widening of the transverse diameter on the distal end of the midtrochlea.

FIGURE 23. A - Restoration of the skull of Devincenzia pozzi, modified by Patterson & Kraglievich (1960), based on specimen MLP-37-11-7-8 (type of Onactornis pozzi Cabrera, 1939). B and C - Phorusrhacos longissimus, drawing by Ameghino (1895), based on a “complete skull, but in such a bad state of conservation that it is almost reduced to dust” (BMNH-A529); C - dorsal view of the mandible. The skulls of both Phorusrhacinae are of approximately the same size, and differences in height can, at least partially, be attributed to deformation in fossilization and defects in the reassembling of the skull of Devincenzia pozzi.