Gymnogyps amplus
| Gymnogyps amplus Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Holocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Fossil skeleton from the La Brea Tar Pits | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Gymnogyps |
| Species: | †G. amplus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gymnogyps amplus L. H. Miller, 1911 | |
Samwel Cave, Shasta County, California
Gymnogyps amplus is an extinct species of large New World vulture belonging to the family Cathartidae. It was first described by Loye H. Miller in 1911[1] from a partial tarsometatarsus[2] recovered in Pleistocene cave deposits at Samwel Cave in northern California.[3] Additional material was later attributed to the species by Harvey I. Fisher, who in 1944 designated a series of plesiotypes from Rancho La Brea deposits, including a cranium, rostrum, and mandible.[4]
G. amplus is the only condor species recovered from Pit 10 of the La Brea Tar Pits, which fossils have been radiocarbon dated to the early Holocene, approximately 9,000 years ago.[4] The smaller modern California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) has been proposed as a possible descendant of G. amplus.[4]
References
- ↑ Miller, Loye Holmes (1911). "Avifauna of the Pleistocene Cave Deposits of California". Bulletin of the Department of Geology. 6 (16). University of California Publications: 390–391.
- ↑ Nadin, Elisabeth (26 October 2007). "Tracing the Roots of the California Condor". Caltech News. California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ↑ Fisher, H. I. (1947). "The skeletons of recent and fossil Gymnogyps". Pacific Science. 1 (4): 227–236.
- 1 2 3 Syverson, Valerie J.; Prothero, Donald R. (2010). "Evolutionary Patterns in Late Quaternary California Condors" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 7 (1). PalArch Foundation: 1–18. Retrieved 11 October 2015.