There are two living species of seriemas.
The red-legged seriema, or crested cariama (Cariama cristata) is found from eastern Brazil, to central Argentina.
It is bigger and nests on the ground or in bushes or trees up to 3 m (9.8 ft) above the ground.
The black-legged seriema (Chunga burmeisteri) is found in northwest Argentina and Paraguay.
It nests in trees.

These birds are thought to be the closest living relatives of a group of gigantic (up to 10 ft or 3.0 m tall) carnivorous "terror birds", the phorusrhacids, which are known from fossils from South and North America.
Several other related groups, such as the idiornithids and bathornithids were part of Palaeogene faunas in North America and Europe and possibly elsewhere too.
However, the fossil record of the seriemas themselves is poor, with two prehistoric species, Chunga incerta  and Noriegavis santacrucensis, both from the Miocene of Argentina, having been described to date.
Some of the fossils from the Eocene fauna of the Messel Pit (i.e. Salimia and Idiornis) have also been suggested to be seriemas, as has the massive predatory Paracrax from the Oligocene of North America, though their status remains uncertain.
There are two living species of seriemas. The red-legged seriema, or crested cariama (Cariama cristata) is found from eastern Brazil, to central Argentina. It is bigger and nests on the ground or in bushes or trees up to 3 m (9.8 ft) above the ground. The black-legged seriema (Chunga burmeisteri) is found in northwest Argentina and Paraguay. It nests in trees.
These birds are thought to be the closest living relatives of a group of gigantic (up to 10 ft or 3.0 m tall) carnivorous "terror birds", the phorusrhacids, which are known from fossils from South and North America. Several other related groups, such as the idiornithids and bathornithids were part of Palaeogene faunas in North America and Europe and possibly elsewhere too. However, the fossil record of the seriemas themselves is poor, with two prehistoric species, Chunga incerta  and Noriegavis santacrucensis, both from the Miocene of Argentina, having been described to date. Some of the fossils from the Eocene fauna of the Messel Pit (i.e. Salimia and Idiornis) have also been suggested to be seriemas, as has the massive predatory Paracrax from the Oligocene of North America, though their status remains uncertain.
Seriema