Gymnogyps amplus Temporal range: Late
Pleistocene –
Holocene
| |
---|---|
Fossil skeleton from the La Brea Tar Pits | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Cathartiformes |
Family: | Cathartidae |
Genus: | Gymnogyps |
Species: | †G. amplus
|
Binomial name | |
†Gymnogyps amplus
L. H. Miller, 1911
|
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]
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]