Ancient Australian Fossil Revealed To Be The Only Vulture Ever Found In This Country

For more than a century, evolutionary biologists assumed that the specimen found in South Australia was that of the mighty grave eagle (Taphaetus lacertosus). Nevertheless, a new study has announced a true classification system: it is a vulture, and it is a first in the country.

Ancient Vulture Fossil

The predatory vulture Cryptogyps lacertosus, meaning powerful hidden vulture, existed between 500 and 50,000 years ago, according to fossils. This is an ‘Old World’ eagle, and a comparable species may still be seen today – but not in Australia, according to Science Alert.

The categorization shows how the diversity of megafauna as well as various species existed on this part of the planet throughout the Pleistocene epoch, which lasted about 2.5 million years and ended about 11,700 years ago.

Meanwhile, according to Flinders University paleontologist Ellen Mather’s interview with The Guardian, researchers examined archaeological evidence of flying birds from around the world, and then it appeared pretty quickly that these birds really weren’t specialized to be predators, and so on. not an eagle or an eagle.

When the researchers positioned Cryptogyps on the phylogenetic ladder, it validated their belief that the bird was a vulture, and that experts were excited to officially report this genus.

The early phase of the heritage saga began in 1901, with the discovery of a piece of wing periosteum near the Kalamurina Estate on Warburton Stream in South Australia. It was quickly identified as from the ancient cousin of the wedge-tailed eagle.

Scientists, as well as those behind current discoveries such as those shown in the Eurekalert report, have recently begun to cast doubt on the categorization of the fossil currently known as C. lacertosus. It has been suggested that Old World vultures lived in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch, and this specimen could represent one of them.

The discovery of additional remains from Wellington Caves in New South Wales and Leaena’s Breath Cave in Western Australia’s Nullabor Plains helped investigators prove it.

These vultures probably flew with wedge-tailed eagles and stared intently at very large creatures, such as the Pleistocene marsupial herbivore Diprotodon and the marsupial lion Thylacoleo.

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The Only Vulture Ever Found in Australia

In his interview, Flinders University paleontologist Trevor Worthy explained that the find answers questions about what happens to some of the megafaunal remains when the country does not host vultures.

The researchers must have known they were here; they hide in the shadows. Some of the other key findings from studies addressing C. acertosus, the diversity of birds of prey in Australia was much greater before than it is now.

Vultures have played an important role in increasing cadaver damage and reducing pathogen transmission, but are no longer present in Australia. Scientists claim that the vulture’s extinction may have changed the integrity of the environment, as other falcons began to play the same function – but not in the same way.

If C. lacertosus behaved according to the Science Times like its contemporary cousins, it might be common for many species to feast on the same corpse. This would give him a market advantage over other creatures.

Today, experts are used to seeing wedge-tailed eagles biting kangaroo carcasses along highways. Thousands of years ago, a completely different bird — among the plethora of people commonly associated with the African prairies — would have occupied the job of scavengers, The Conversation posted.

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