Cathartes emsliei
Emslie's vulture (Cathartes emsliei) is an extinct species of vulture in the family Cathartidae. It is only known from a series of fossils found in western Cuba. The fossils were primarily found in caves or Quaternary asphault deposits. It is significantly smaller than the extant C. aura. It likely became extinct during the Holocene following the extinction of Cuban Pleistocene megafauna whose bodies it would have fed on, coupled with the loss of the open savannas it would have inhabited.[1][2]
| Cathartes emsliei Temporal range: Late Quaternary | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cathartiformes |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Cathartes |
| Species: | C. emsliei |
| Binomial name | |
| Cathartes emsliei Suárez & Olson, 2020 | |
Both its common and scientific names are named for Dr. Steven Emslie, a professor of paleontology at UNC Wilmington.[1]
References
- Suárez, William; Olson, Storrs L. (2020-09-21). "A new fossil vulture (Cathartidae: Cathartes) from Quaternary asphalt and cave deposits in Cuba". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 140 (3): 335–343. doi:10.25226/bboc.v140i3.2020.a6. ISSN 0007-1595.
- "Confirman hallazgo de restos fósiles de una tiñosa extinta en Cuba". OnCubaNews (in Spanish). 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
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