Description

Condor phalanx
Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean)
Rancho La Brea Formation
Maricopa Tar Pits
Kern County, California, USA

Condor phalanx on 87mm matrix from the famous Tar Pits of California.

Bird.

A condor is a common name for two species of living New World vultures, the California condor and the Andean condor. Condor remains are known from Pleistocene sites across North America but the two modern species were nearly extinct by the late 20th century. A third species is known only from the tar pits and was the apparent ancestor of the California condor.

Here is a nice display piece with an association of bones including a condor toe bone.

Natural Canvas fun fact: The vultures of the Americas have a separate ancestry from the vultures of the Old World.