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Description
Near the end of the Creatceous the Iberian Peninsula, as well as southern France, formed a landmass called the Ibero-Armorican island, located in the Tethys Sea. By that time, most of Europe was formed by islands, and their faunas showed the effects of insularism. The Ibero-Armorican island was no exception, and here there lived a series of remarkable birds that lost the ability to fly and became giants. It is interesting to note that these birds didn't develop gigantism in absence of predators, as many carnivorous dinosaurs are known from the same sites.

Known from scarce remains, these birds are usually included in the group Euornithes, although there is some controversy to that. The remains of at least two of these birds have been found in Spain, while others have been found in France. I have depicted them alongside a Concornis, restored in my previous drawing. Let's know them:

- Gargantuavis philoinos: this bird was first described from fossils found in France, and most of its remains have been found in that country. However, a synsacrum of this species is known from a site in Spain, and it could have also inhabited Hațeg Island (in modern Romania). Gargantuavis could have reached an intermediate size between a cassowary and an ostrich, had a long neck and wasn't adapted to fast running. Due to the scarcity of the remains not much else can be said about it though. After the discovery of the possible romanian remains Gargantuavis was proposed to be a more primitive bird, closely related to Balaur and Elopteryx. However, this claim was denied in another paper, leaving the controversy of Gargantuavis' identity open. I chose to depict it as ostrich-like, following the original interpretation of the animal.

- MPZ 2019/264: a paper was published earlier this year describing a new fossil, which was found in the Spanish Pyrenees. It consisted in a single vertebra, belonging to an unknown giant bird, also known as "the bird of Beranuy". While it was probably related to Gargantuavis, the vertebra is different to others known from the former, and this bird also lived after it: while Gargantuavis lived during late Campanian-early Maastrichtian (and disappears from the fossil record after that), the new bird lived just at the end of the later pedriod, probably becoming extinct in the K-Pg event. The Beranuy bird appears to be slightly smaller than Gargantuavis.

There are probably more gargantuaviid remains in Spain according to some things I've seen, but in the absence of more papers I cannot confirm anything more.

For the first part of this bird guide, go here: www.deviantart.com/diegooa/art…

Description
Near the end of the Creatceous the Iberian Peninsula, as well as southern France, formed a landmass called the Ibero-Armorican island, located in the Tethys Sea. By that time, most of Europe was formed by islands, and their faunas showed the effects of insularism. The Ibero-Armorican island was no exception, and here there lived a series of remarkable birds that lost the ability to fly and became giants. It is interesting to note that these birds didn't develop gigantism in absence of predators, as many carnivorous dinosaurs are known from the same sites.

Known from scarce remains, these birds are usually included in the group Euornithes, although there is some controversy to that. The remains of at least two of these birds have been found in Spain, while others have been found in France. I have depicted them alongside a Concornis, restored in my previous drawing. Let's know them:

- Gargantuavis philoinos: this bird was first described from fossils found in France, and most of its remains have been found in that country. However, a synsacrum of this species is known from a site in Spain, and it could have also inhabited Hațeg Island (in modern Romania). Gargantuavis could have reached an intermediate size between a cassowary and an ostrich, had a long neck and wasn't adapted to fast running. Due to the scarcity of the remains not much else can be said about it though. After the discovery of the possible romanian remains Gargantuavis was proposed to be a more primitive bird, closely related to Balaur and Elopteryx. However, this claim was denied in another paper, leaving the controversy of Gargantuavis' identity open. I chose to depict it as ostrich-like, following the original interpretation of the animal.

- MPZ 2019/264: a paper was published earlier this year describing a new fossil, which was found in the Spanish Pyrenees. It consisted in a single vertebra, belonging to an unknown giant bird, also known as "the bird of Beranuy". While it was probably related to Gargantuavis, the vertebra is different to others known from the former, and this bird also lived after it: while Gargantuavis lived during late Campanian-early Maastrichtian (and disappears from the fossil record after that), the new bird lived just at the end of the later pedriod, probably becoming extinct in the K-Pg event. The Beranuy bird appears to be slightly smaller than Gargantuavis.

There are probably more gargantuaviid remains in Spain according to some things I've seen, but in the absence of more papers I cannot confirm anything more.

For the first part of this bird guide, go here: www.deviantart.com/diegooa/art…