It was long thought these fossils came from an eagle. Turns out they belong to the only known vulture species from Australia

The extinct species may have been a relative of the living Griffon Vulture (pictured). Shutterstock

In 1905, a fragment of a fossil wing bone discovered near the Kalamurina Homestead, South Australia, was described as an extinct eagle and named Taphaetus lacertosus, meaning “powerful grave eagle”.

Now research published by myself and mycolleagues can reveal this species was no eagle at all. It was an “Old World” vulture, which we have renamed Cryptogyps lacertosus, or “powerful hidden vulture”.