Fossil Birds and Faunal Remains in Nests

Stanton's Cave beside the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Photo by Shannon Kelly.

The recovery of Pleistocene bird remains is exceedingly rare on the Colorado Plateau, with the only comprehensive deposit coming from Stanton's Cave and other nearby caves in the Grand Canyon. The variety of faunal remains found in fossil California condor nests has been revealing, however. Steve Emslie analyzed bone fragments in two apparent Pleistocene condor nests in Grand Canyon, and found evidence that condor diet once included now extinct forms such as mammoths, camels, mountain goats, and native horses. Emslie suggested it was palusible that condors may have disappeared from the inland West as a consequence of the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna.

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