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The South American Classification Committee has removed the New World vultures from Ciconiiformes and instead described them as incertae sedis, but notes that a move to Falconiformes or Cathartiformes is possible. [8] The Andean condor is the only accepted living species of its genus, Vultur. [12]
All New World vultures have long, broad wings and a stiff tail, suitable for soaring. [36] They are the best adapted to soaring of all land birds. [37] The feet are clawed but weak and not adapted to grasping. [38] The front toes are long with small webs at their bases. [39] No New World vulture possesses a syrinx, [40] the vocal organ of birds ...
Condor Temporal range: Late Pliocene – Holocene Andean condor soaring over southern Peru's Colca Canyon Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Accipitriformes Family: Cathartidae Genera Vultur Gymnogyps Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua kuntur ...
Gymnogyps amplus was first described by L. H. Miller in 1911 from a broken tarsometatarsus. [1] [2] 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."
Vultures are scavengers and carrion-eating raptors of two distinct biological families: the Old World vultures (Accipitridae), which occurs only in the Eastern Hemisphere; and the New World vultures (Cathartidae), which occurs only in the Western Hemisphere. Members of both groups have heads either partly or fully devoid of feathers.
Cathartiformes, also known as New World vultures, possess unique adaptations in their plumulaceous feathers that prevent the accumulation of bacteria and fungal spores, allowing them to feed on carrion without getting sick. These feather adaptations include a lack of aftershaft, a flattened shape, and a porous structure that allows air to flow ...
New World vultures such as the condor are thought to be the closest living relatives to Argentavis and other teratorns. Average weights are much lower in both the wandering albatross and Andean condor than in Argentavis, at approximately 8.5 kg (19 lb) and 11.3 kg (25 lb), respectively. [16] [17]
Old World vultures are not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures and condors, and do not share that group's good sense of smell. The similarities between the two groups of vultures are due to convergent evolution, rather than a close relationship. They were widespread in both the Old World and North America during the ...