new Old World vulture (Falconiformes: Accipitridae) from the Miocene of Gansu Province, northwest China

A large-sized and almost complete fossil vulture was discovered from the Late Miocene Liushu Formation of Linxia Basin in northwestern China. It is the best-preserved and the most complete fossil vulture yet discovered. The new genus and species Gansugyps linxiaensis is proposed and assigned to the family Accipitridae; morphology and limb proportions suggest it was chiefly an arboreal and soaring bird. It is more advanced than the other two known Miocene vultures from China. This new fossil increases our knowledge of the evolutionary history of vultures, and has implications for reconstructing the paleoecology of this region.