Masillaraptor

Masillaraptor is an extinct genus of masillaraptorid, a group of primitive falconiforms, from the Middle Eocene Messel Pit, Germany.

[1][2] Only one species of Masillaraptor is known: M. parvunguis Masillaraptor comes from the Latin word Masilla, which is the old name for the town of Messel, and raptor is a New Latin suffix used to indicate a predator (from rapere, to catch) and in English it means bird of prey.

The name refers to the fact that the specimen's claws are small in comparison to those of other raptors.

Both specimens are a slab of rock containing a nearly complete, articulate but poorly preserved skeleton.

Cariama cristata (red-legged seriema) Llallawavis scagliai Patagornis marshi Media related to Masillaraptor at Wikimedia Commons