Diogenornis fossil map
Where fossils of Diogenornis have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 56 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 56 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 | 56–48.07 million years ago (Ypresian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Rheidae |
| Named by | Alvarenga 1983 |
| Fossil records | 1 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Brazil |
| Rock formations | txn:39283 |
About Diogenornis
Diogenornis is an extinct genus of ratites, that lived from the Middle Paleocene to the Early Eocene (Riochican to Casamayoran in the SALMA classification). It was described in 1983 by Brazilian scientist Herculano Marcos Ferraz de Alvarenga based on fossils found in the Itaboraí Formation in southeastern Brazil. The type species is D. fragilis. It grew to about two thirds the size of the modern greater rhea, at about 90 centimetres (3.0 ft) of height.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Diogenornis (revision 1378892136), 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: Q3499885.
