''Miocariama'' is an extinct genus of

seriema The seriemas are the sole living members of the small bird family Cariamidae (the entire family is also referred to as "seriemas"), which is also the only surviving lineage of the order Cariamiformes. Once believed to be related to cranes, they ...

that lived in the

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

and

Late Pliocene Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * Late (The 77s album), ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudo ...

. The only

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the genus is ''Miocariama patagonica''. It was discovered in the

Santa Cruz Formation The Santa Cruz Formation is a geological formation in the Magallanes Basin, Magallanes/Austral Basin in southern Patagonia in Argentina and adjacent areas of Chile. It dates to the late Early Miocene epoch, and is contemporaneous with the eponym ...

of the Aquitanian stage in the Miocene, and is the oldest known species within

Cariamidae The seriemas are the sole living members of the small bird family Cariamidae (the entire family is also referred to as "seriemas"), which is also the only surviving lineage of the order Cariamiformes. Once believed to be related to Crane (bird), ...

References

Cariamidae Prehistoric bird genera Miocene birds Pliocene birds Prehistoric birds of North America Prehistoric birds of South America Fossil taxa described in 2017 {{Cariamiformes-stub