Herpetotherinae
Subfamily of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herpetotherinae is a subfamily of falconid birds of prey that includes eight species in two genera Herpetotheres (the laughing falcon) and Micrastur (forest falcons).[1][2][3][4] Both genera are found in South America and the subfamily is basal to the other falconid subfamilies where they split off around 30.2 million years ago in the Oligocene epoch.[4] The two extant herpetotherine genera split around 20 million years ago in the Miocene epoch with the extinct genus Thegornis.[2]
| Herpetotherinae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cryptic forest falcon, Micrastur mintoni | |
 | |
| Laughing falcon, Herpetotheres cachinnans | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes |
| Family: | Falconidae |
| Subfamily: | Herpetotherinae Lesson, 1843 |
| Genera | |
