Gymnogyps amplus

Gymnogyps amplus is an extinct species of large New World vulture in the family Cathartidae. The species was first described by L. H. Miller in 1911 from a broken tarsometatarsus.[2][3]

Gymnogyps amplus Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Holocene
Fossil skeleton from the La Brea Tar Pits
Tarsometatarsus of holotype from Samwel Cave, Shasta County, California
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[1]

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."[3] The smaller, modern California condor may have evolved from G. amplus.[3]

References

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. 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.