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A New Genus for The Cuban Teratorn (Aves: Teratornithidae)

2009; Biological Society of Washington; Volume: 122; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2988/08-27.1

1943-6327

William Suárez, Storrs L. Olson,

Fish biology, ecology, and behavior

Study of the type series and much new fossil material of the Cuban teratorn, Teratornis olsoni Arredondo & Arredondo, shows that this species possessed unique characters within the family Teratornithidae, including a shorter and more flattened humerus and femur, and a tarsometatarsus with a long trochlea II. The differences are so great as to merit a new genus, Oscaravis, for the species. Some osteological characters of Oscaravis suggest that it was less derived than Teratornis and possibly more similar to Argentavis. As the only insular member of the Teratornithidae, Oscaravis shows that teratorns were capable of overwater dispersal, so that the expansion of the family into North America from the south need not have been dependent on the presence of a land bridge.