Terror bird sketch12/27/2023 Holotype tarsometatarsus (UF 4108) in anterior and posterior views. Titanis likely preyed on mammals such as the extinct armadillo relatives Holmesina and Glyptotherium, equids, tapirs, capybaras, and other herbivores of Pliocene Florida. Titanis is known from the Pliocene deposits of Florida and southeastern Texas, regions with large open savannas and a menagerie of mammalian megafauna. Studies of the related Andalgalornis show that large phorusrhacids had very stiff and stress-resistant skulls this indicates they may have swallowed small prey whole or targeted larger prey with repetitive strikes with the beak. The tarsometatarsus was long and slender, like that of its relative Kelenken, which suggests that it could run faster than had previously been assumed for large phorusrhacids, and would have been able to chase down small animals. Titanis co-existed with many placental predators in North America and was likely one of several apex predators in its ecosystem. Phorusrhacids are thought to have been ground predators or scavengers, and have often been considered apex predators that dominated Cenozoic South America in the absence of placental mammalian predators, though they did co-exist with some large, carnivorous borhyaenid mammals. The skull has been estimated to have been between 321 millimetres (12.6 in) and 542 millimetres (21.3 in) in length, one of the largest known from any bird. Due to the fragmentary fossils, the anatomy is poorly known, but several distinct characters on the tarsometatarsus and wing bones have been observed. A 2005 estimate placed Titanis at 2 to 2.5 meters (6.6 to 8.2 ft) in height and weighing 200 kilograms (440 lb). Titanis was one of the largest phorusrhacids, rivaling Kelenken and Phorusrhacos in size based on preserved material. Titanis, like all phorusrhacids, had elongated hind limbs, a thin pelvis, proportionally small wings, and a huge skull, with a tall, long, sideways compressed hooked beak. Titanis was in the subfamily Phorusrhacinae, which includes some of the last and largest phorusrhacids like Devincenzia and Kelenken. In years following the description, many more isolated elements have been unearthed from sites from other areas of Florida, Texas, and California. The genus name references the Greek Titans due to the large size of the fossils, and the species name is after the fossil hunter Benjamin Waller. The specimen was fragmentary, consisting of only an incomplete right tarsometatarsus shin bone and phalanx toe bone, but comes from one of the largest phorusrhacid individuals known. The holotype (name-bearing) specimen was first unearthed by amateur archaeologist Benjamin Waller from the Santa Fe River in Florida, United States, and was named Titanis walleri by ornithologist Pierce Brodkorb in 1963. Titanis is unique among phorusrhacids in that it is the only one known from North America, crossing over during the Great American Interchange. Titanis (from Greek for "titan") is a genus of phorusrhacid ("terror birds"), an extinct family of large, predatory birds, in the order Cariamiformes (an order including phorusrhacids and the extant seriemas) that inhabited the United States during the Pliocene and earliest Pleistocene.
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