AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

The "Walking Eagle" Wetmoregyps Daggetti Miller: A Scaled-up Version of the Savanna Hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis)

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2007
Authors:Olson, SL
Journal:Ornithological Monographs
Issue:63
Date Published:2007
ISBN Number:00786594
Keywords:Accipitridae, Buteogallus, Buteogallus meridionalis, Sagittariidae, Sagittarius, Sagittarius serpentarius
Abstract:The so-called "walking eagle," currently known as Wetmoregyps daggetti from the Pleistocene of southern California and northern Mexico, is practically identical in morphology and proportion to the living Savanna Hawk (Buteogallus meridionalis) but ~40% larger. It should therefore be known as Buteogallus daggetti, new combination. Its habits were perhaps like those of a Savanna Hawk in that it was capable of taking much larger prey, given that the weight of B. daggetti may have exceeded that of the modern Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius), and it may have occupied a similar niche. Any connection between its extinction and the disappearance of the North American mammalian megafauna is dubious at best. Received 27 November 2006, accepted 5 February 2007. /// Wetmoregyps daggetti, encontrado en el Pleistoceno en el sur de California y norte de México, es prácticamente idéntico en morfología y en proporciones al gavilán pita venado Buteogallus meridionalis, aunque un 40% más grande. Por lo tanto, debe considerarse como Buteogallus daggetti. Probablemente, sus hábitos eran muy similares a los del gavilán pita venado, siendo capaz de capturar grandes presas. Su tamaño excede al del secretario (Sagittarius serpentarius), pudiendo ocupar un nicho similar. Cualquier conexión entre la extinción de Wetmoregyps daggetti y la desaparición de la megafauna de mamíferos en Norte America es, cuando menos, dudosa
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40166902
Short Title:Ornithological Monographs
Taxonomic name: 
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