Devincenzia is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds in the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds" that lived during the Early Miocene (Deseadan) Fray Bentos Formation of Uruguay, Late Miocene (Huayquerian) Ituzaingó Formation, Early Pliocene (Montehermosan) of Argentina, and possibly the Early Pleistocene Raigón Formation of Uruguay. The type species D. pozzi was formerly known as Onactornis pozzi. The largest possible specimen weighed up to 350 kilograms (770 lb), making it one of the largest phorusrhacids and carnivorous birds known.
Devincenzia
Skulls of several Phorusrhacines, including Devincenzia pozzi (2nd from top).
Photo of the Parana River, where many Devincenzia fossils have been unearthed.
Phorusrhacids, colloquially known as terror birds, are an extinct family of large carnivorous, mostly flightless birds that were among the largest apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era; their conventionally accepted temporal range covers from 53 to 0.1 million years (Ma) ago, and perhaps even up to 21,600 ± 1,000 years ago.
Phorusrhacidae
Phorusrhacinae skulls compared
The Red-legged seriema, the closest living relative of phorusrhacids.
Reconstructed skeleton of Paraphysornis at the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro