Pleistovultur nevesi gen. et sp nov (Aves: Vulturidae) and the diversity of condors and vultures in the South American Pleistocene

Pleistovultur nevesi, a new genus and species of a large Vulturidae is described from the Upper Pleistocene or beginning of the Holocene, based on a complete and well preserved right tibiotarsus from the Cuvieri cave deposits, one of the hundreds of caves of the Lagoa Santa region in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Also described here is a distal half of a left tibiotarsus from Gruta dos Brejoes, a cave in Morro do Chapeu, Bahia state, Brazil, which probably belongs to another not-yet-known genus and species of the Vulturidae. The described material, added to prior literature, is proof of the appreciable diversity of the Vulturidae during the Pleistocene in South America.

Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas e Desenvolvimento (CNPq)[130053/2006-6]

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas e Desenvolvimento (CNPq)[140359/20044]

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

FAPESP Fundacao de Amparo A Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPE-SP)[06/51406-1]

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

[303926/85-6-RV]

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo - FAPESP[04/013216]

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)