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

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Abstract

Old World vultures (Gypini) are large diurnal birds of prey, the characteristic inhabitants of open biotopes in Africa and southern Eurasia. Fossil remains of vultures are quite 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 the second confirmed one outside its modern 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.

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About the authors

V. O. Gorbatcheva

Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: varyg588@gmail.com
Russian Federation, Moscow, 117647

N. V. Zelenkov

Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: nzelen@paleo.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow, 117647

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2. Fig. 1. Comparison of the skulls of Torgos platycephalus sp. nov. and other Gypini: a, g — Aegypius monachus (L., 1766), ex. osteological collection of PIN, No. 32-53-3, modern; b, e, f – Torgos platycephalus sp. nov., holotype of PIN, No. 395/219, Azerbaijan, location of Binagada; Upper Pleistocene; c, f – Gyps fulvus (Hablizl, 1783), specimens. osteological collection of the PIN, No. 32-52-3, modern. a, b, c – view from the lateral side; d, e, e – view from the caudal side; f – view from below. Designations: PC – cerebellar protrusion; CNT – transverse frontal crest; CT – temporal crest; DEP – depressions; the circle marks the temporal pit. The scale segment is 1 cm.

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3. Fig. 2. Comparison of tarsometatarsus Torgos platycephalus sp. nov. and other Gypini: a, g, g, k — Aegypius monachus (L., 1766), ex. osteological collection PIN, No. 32-53-4, modern; b, W, D, L — Torgos platycephalus sp. nov., ex. PIN, No. 395/288, Azerbaijan, location of Binagada; Upper Pleistocene; b, I, e, m — Gyps fulvus (Hablizl, 1783), specimens. osteological collection of the PIN, No. 32-52-3, modern. a–b — view from the proximal side; g–e — view from the distal side; g–i — view from the ventral side; k–m — view from the dorsal side. Designations: FMI is the imprint of metatarsal I.; EI is the interarticular protrusion; CMH is the medial crest of the hypotharsus; CLH is the lateral crest of the hypotharsus; TMII is the block of metatarsal II. The scale segment is 1 cm.

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