Cuban condor
Gymnogyps varonai, sometimes called the Cuban condor, is an extinct species of large New World vulture in the family Cathartidae. G. varonai is related to the living California condor, G. californianus and the extinct G. kofordi, either one of which it may have evolved from. The species is solely known from fossils found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene tar seep deposits in Cuba. G. varonai may have preyed upon carcasses from large mammals such as ground sloths.
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While sc...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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starts withOverall, the G. varonai fossils show a robust build and an overall larger size compared to the California condor and G. kofordi. The skull MPSG21 has a width of 43.2 millimetres (1.70 in) and a height of 38.8 millimetres (1.53 in) and the femur being approximately 141 millimetres (5.6 in) long. The structure of the skull shows increases in the areas of muscle attachment and suggests larger vertebral dimensions. The bill is more robust than in other species of the genus and the placement of the nuchal crest is further forward. These increases are suggested to be a result of the composition of the diet G. varonai would have eaten. The large animal fauna of Cuba was mainly composed of several ground sloth genera, such as Megalocnus, Acratocnus, and Parocnus. along with large tortoises and rodents. The thicker hides and shells of the carcasses are suggested to have selected for more robust and powerful carrion feeders.
