The oldest phorusrhacids are from South America and Antarctica, so if this genus were indeed a phorusrhacid, the ancestors of
Lavocatavis might have migrated into Africa from the west. During the Eocene, the Atlantic Ocean separated South America from Africa by at least , ruling out a land migration. For a flightless terrestrial bird like
Lavocatavis, the only means of entering Africa would have been through rafting on
floating islands or
island hopping. Currents traveled westward in the South Atlantic during the early Paleocene, making it unlikely that phorusrhacoids traveled on floating islands. The ancestors of
Lavocatavis most likely traveled between very large islands that existed on what are now the submerged
Rio Grande Rise and
Walvis Ridge. However, it is also possible that the ancestors of
Lavocatavis retained some of their flight ability and were able to travel between islands with more ease than flightless birds. If this was the case,
Lavocatavis became flightless independently of other flightless phorusrhacoids, in a case of
convergent evolution. ==Classification==