''Cathartornis'' ("'' Cathartes'' Bird") is an ancient bird of the Teratornithidae family. It lived somewhere between 23 million years (

Miocene Epoch The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

) and 10,000 years (

Pleistocene Epoch The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

) ago. The only evidence of the bird's existence is a few bones. Its remains were documented in 1910. ''Cathartornis'' was described on the basis of 2 tarsometatarsi, 1 complete and 1 containing only the distal end, recovered from the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits comprise an active Paleontological site, paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural Bitumen, asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. Since then, no other fossils have officially been referred to the taxon, though some fossils assigned to ''

Teratornis ''Teratornis'' (Greek: "wonder" (teratos), "bird" (ornis)) is an extinct genus of huge North American birds of prey—the best-known of the teratorns—of which, two species are known to have existed: ''Teratornis merriami'' and ''Teratornis woo ...

'' could be from ''Cathartornis'' and unpublished remains have been mentioned.Campbell, K. E., & Stenger, A. T. (2002). A new teratorn (Aves; Teratornithidae) from the Upper Pleistocene of Oregon.

References

Cenozoic birds Teratornithidae {{Accipitriformes-stub