Devincenzia fossil map
Where fossils of Devincenzia have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Prehistoric birds |
|---|---|
| Lived | 29–5 million years ago (Rupelian to Zanclean) |
| Periods | Paleogene, Neogene |
| Family | Phorusrhacidae |
| Named by | Kraglievich 1932 |
| Fossil records | 4 occurrences at 4 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Argentina, Uruguay |
| Rock formations | Ituzaingo, Fray Bentos, Epecuén |
About Devincenzia
Devincenzia (in honor of Garibaldi Devincenzi) is an extinct genus of phorusrhacid, a group of predominantly large, predatory flightless birds commonly known as terror birds. The first fossil attributed to the genus, an incomplete tarsometatarsus (lower leg bone) and toe bone, were described in 1931 by Uruguayan naturalist Lucas Kraglievich as coming from a new species of Phorusrhacos, P. pozzi. This specimen was discovered in sediments of the Ituzaingó Formation in Paraná, Río Negro Province in southern Argentina. Strata of this formation comes from the Huayquerian SALMA (South American Land Mammal Ages; a series of fauna-based time periods), which dates to the Late Miocene between 9 and 6.8 million years ago. The next year, Kraglievich named a new genus and species of giant bird, Devincenzia gallinali, on the basis of a nearly complete tarsometatarsus that was found in an unknown locality in southern Uruguay. It likely comes from the Arroyo Roman, which bears localities dating to the Miocene and Oligocene. In 1939, Argentine naturalist Angel Cabrera described Onactornis depressus, a species which some authors have argued is a synonym of D. pozzi.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Devincenzia (revision 1380128460), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q4895333.
