An unexpectedly large vulture (Aves: Cathartidae) from the Quaternary of South America

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

New World vultures form a widespread group of soaring scavengers in the Americas. This clade currently comprises seven living species in five genera, which are divided into two groups: large condors (Gymnogyps, Vultur) and smaller vultures (Coragyps, Cathartes, Sarcoramphus). However, the Pleistocene records of these birds are diverse and widely distributed. In the present contribution, we describe a fossil removed from the late Pleistocene-early Holocene sediments of the Canelón Chico locality (Canelones Department, Uruguay). The fossil (MNHN 3948) consists of a distal, well-preserved fragment of a right tarsometatarsus. The linear size of the fossil is within the range of the largest male Vultur specimens. However, the cross-section of the shaft, the position of the distal foramen, the presence of a large and conspicuous tuberculum distal to the metatarsal facet, and the orientation and depth of the metatarsal facet distinguish it from living Vultur. The notoriously flattened shaft may indicate that locomotory adaptations not observed in the large condors but characteristic of the smaller Cathartes species. This material suggests a new form of the small New World vulture lineage from the Quaternary period in South America. This study also provides new insights into the trophic roles of scavenger birds during the Late Pleistocene of South America.