A Vulture of the Genus Torgos (Aves: Accipitridae) in the Late Pleistocene of Azerbaijan

Abstract

Old World vultures (Aves: Accipitridae: Gypini) are large diurnal birds of prey, the characteristic inhabitants of open biotopes in Africa and southern Eurasia. Fossil remains of vultures are rather rare; the evolution of the group is poorly studied. This article describes the skull and tarsometatarsus of the large vulture Torgos platycephalus sp. nov. from the Upper Pleistocene of the Binagadi locality (Azerbaijan). This is the first fossil record of the genus in the Caucasus and second confirmed record outside its current range (Torgos sp. is also known from the Middle Pleistocene of China). The coexistence of three species of large scavengers in the Late Pleistocene of the Absheron Peninsula (in addition to Torgos platycephalus, Aegypius monachus and Gyps fulvus are also known from the Binagadi locality) can be explained by the richness of the food supply, which included a noticeable diversity of large mammals.