| Gymnogyps amplus Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Holocene | |
|---|---|
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| 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 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]
