Vol. 5] 



Miller. — Teratornis. 



307 



ada Goose are represented by but one specimen each. A similar 

 relation between predatory and non-predatory species is noted 

 by Professor Merriam 3 among the mammalia from this forma- 

 tion. 



Numerous writers on the Golden Eagle as it exists today have 

 commented upon the carrion habit of the species. Its abundant 

 occurrence in the asphalt trap of Raneho La Brea bears proof 

 of the long standing of this habit of preying upon either dead 

 or disabled creatures. The specimens taken average large and 

 possibly represent birds in old age. The left tarsus of one in- 

 dividual shows an abundant exostosis due to some diseased con- 

 dition which caused the loss of the entire foot. Merriam noted 

 among mammals entrapped in the asphalt a large preponder- 

 ance of young individuals, accompanied in case of carnivores 

 by a large number of individuals with worn or broken teeth. 

 He ascribes these conditions to the inexperience of the young or 

 to the extremity of the aged. Possibly among predaceous birds, 

 cared for in youth and taught by instinct to seek an active prey 

 not discerned by the sense of smell, it was largely the old or 

 otherwise disabled individuals which resorted to this ignoble 

 feast, 



DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS. 



Teratornis merriami, n. gen. and sp. 



Type specimen no. 12101, Univ. Calif. Col. Vert. Palae. Skull 

 as far forward as the lachrymals. Cerebellar region much re- 

 duced. Auditory prominences developed outward and backward 

 beyond the posterior extremity of the brain case. Foramen 

 magnum deeper than wide. Basipterygoid processes well de- 

 veloped. Lachrymals entirely fused with frontals and with 

 ectethmoids. In co-type no. 12507. beak hooked, very deep and 

 greatly compressed. 



SKULL. 



On viewing the skull from below at right angles to the basi- 

 sphenoidal rostrum (fig. 1 ), two very striking characters are 

 evident. The cerebellar region is greatly reduced and the post- 

 auditory prominences are thrust backward and outward until 



« Merriam, J. C, Science, N. S., vol. 24, p. 248, 1906. 



