Gymnogyps amplus

Gymnogyps amplus is an extinct species of large New World vulture in the family Cathartidae. The species was first described by Loye H. Miller (1911)[1] in 1911 from a partial tarsometatarsus[2] recovered from Pleistocene cave deposits in Samwel Cave of northern California.[3] Harvey I. Fisher (1944) designated a set of plesiotypes from the Rancho La Brea which includes a cranium, rostrum, and mandible.[4]

Gymnogyps amplus
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Holocene
Fossil skeleton from the La Brea Tar Pits
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Cathartidae
Genus: Gymnogyps
Species:
†G. amplus
Binomial name
†Gymnogyps amplus
Holotype Tarsometatarsus;
Samwel Cave, Shasta County, California

The species is the only condor species found in the La Brea Tar Pits' Pit 10, which fossils date to "a Holocene radiocarbon age of 9,000 years."[4] The smaller, modern California condor may have evolved from G. amplus.[4]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gymnogyps amplus.
  1. Miller, Loye Holmes (1911). "Avifauna of the Pleistocene Cave Deposits of California". Bulletin of the Department of Geology. University of California Publications. 6 (16): 390–391.
  2. Nadin, Elisabeth (26 October 2007). "Tracing the Roots of the California Condor". Caltech News. California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  3. Fisher, H. I. (1947). "The skeletons of recent and fossil Gymnogyps". Pacific Science. 1 (4): 227–236.
  4. Syverson, Valerie J.; Prothero, Donald R. (2010). "Evolutionary Patterns in Late Quaternary California Condors" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. PalArch Foundation. 7 (1): 1–18. Retrieved 11 October 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.