Plesiocathartes

Plesiocathartes
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Leptosomiformes
Genus: Plesiocathartes
Gaillard, 1908
Type species
P. europaeus
Gaillard, 1908
Other species
  • P. gaillardi Crusafont & Villalta, 1955
  • P. major Weidig, 2006
  • P. insolitipes Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
  • P. kelleri Mayr, 2002
  • P. wyomingensis Weidig, 2006

Plesiocathartes is an extinct genus of birds that lived during the Eocene to Oligocene period. It currently presents 5 species from Europe and North America. It was originally described related to New World vultures, but recent studies have uncovered that the genus was more closely related to the cuckoo-roller from Madagascar.