Aegypiinae

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Aegypiinae
Gyps africanus Torgos tracheliotus.jpg
Lappet-faced vultures (left) and a white-backed vulture
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Aegypiinae
Sclater, WL, 1924
Type genus
Aegypius
Savigny, 1809

Aegypiinae is one of two subfamilies of Accipitridae that are referred to as Old World vultures, the other being the Gypaetinae. They are not closely related to the Gypaetinae, and are instead a sister group to the serpent-eagles (Circaetinae). [1] [2]

Contents

Presently found throughout much of Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe, fossil evidence indicates that as recently as the Late Pleistocene, they ranged into Australia. [3] [4]

Taxonomy

The subfamily Aegypiinae was introduced (as the family Aegypiidae) in 1924 by the British zoologist William Lutley Sclater with Aegypius Savigny, 1809, as the type genus. [5] [6]

The cladogram of the Aegypiinae shown below is based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the Accipitridae by Therese Catanach and collaborators that was published in 2024. [2]

Aegypiinae

Necrosyrtes – hooded vulture

Gyps – vultures (8 species)

Sarcogyps – red-headed vulture

Trigonoceps – white-headed vulture

Torgos – lappet-faced vulture

Aegypius cinereous vulture

Genera

GenusCommon and binomial namesImageRange
Necrosyrtes Gloger, 1841 Hooded vulture
Necrosyrtes monachus
Vulture in Tanzania 3118 cropped Nevit.jpg Sub-Saharan Africa
Gyps Savigny, 1809 Griffon vulture
Gyps fulvus
Beloglav leshoiad - 1.jpg Mountains in southern Europe, north Africa and Asia
White-rumped vulture
Gyps bengalensis
Gyps bengalensis PLoS.png Northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and southeast Asia
Rüppell's vulture
Gyps rueppelli
Gyps rueppellii -Nairobi National Park, Kenya-8-4c.jpg The Sahel region of central Africa
Indian vulture
Gyps indicus
The Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) or Long-billed Vulture.jpg Central and peninsular India
Slender-billed vulture
Gyps tenuirostris
Gyps tenuirostris.png The Sub-Himalayan regions of India and into Southeast Asia
Himalayan vulture
Gyps himalayensis
Himalayan Vulture (by a road) (2926948182).jpg The Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau
White-backed vulture
Gyps africanus
White-backed Vulture Chobe.jpg Savannahs of west and east Africa
Cape vulture
Gyps coprotheres
Cape Vulture - Giant Castle - South-Africa 010002 (15444476446).jpg Southern Africa
Sarcogyps Lesson, 1842 Red-headed vulture
Sarcogyps calvus
Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), immature, Bharatpur, India (254).jpg The Indian Subcontinent, with small disjunct populations in Southeast Asia
Trigonoceps Lesson, 1842 White-headed vulture
Trigonoceps occipitalis
Trigonoceps occipitalis -Kruger National Park, South Africa -flying-8.jpg Sub-Saharan Africa. Extinct populations have occurred in Indonesia. [7]
Torgos Kaup, 1828 Lappet-faced vulture
Torgos tracheliotos
Nubianvulture.jpeg Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sinai and Negev deserts and north-west Saudi Arabia
Aegypius Savigny, 1809 Cinereous vulture
Aegypius monachus
Black Vulture 1.jpg Southwestern and central Europe, Turkey, the central Middle East, northern India, central and east Asia
Aegypius jinniushanensis Pleistocene of China
Aegypius prepyrenaicus Pleistocene of Spain

Fossil genera

SubfamilyGenusCommon and binomial namesImageRange
Aegypiinae Cryptogyps Cryptogyps lacertosus Pleistocene of Australia
Gansugyps Gansugyps linxiaensis Miocene of China

† = extinct

References

  1. Lerner, Heather R. L.; Mindell, David P. (2005). "Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures, and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 37 (2): 327–346. Bibcode:2005MolPE..37..327L. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.010. PMID   15925523.
  2. 1 2 Catanach, T.A.; Halley, M.R.; Pirro, S. (2024). "Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society: blae028. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blae028.
  3. Mather, Ellen K.; Lee, Michael S. Y.; Worthy, Trevor H. (2022-07-20). "A new look at an old Australian raptor places "Taphaetus" lacertosus de Vis 1905 in the Old World vultures (Accipitridae: Aegypiinae)". Zootaxa. 5168 (1): 1–23. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.1 . ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   36101304. S2CID   250938004.
  4. "Mindat.org". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  5. Sclater, William Lutley (1924). Systema avium aethiopicarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Ethiopian region. Vol. 1. London: British Ornithologists' Union. p. 47.
  6. Bock, Walter J. (1994). History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 133, 257. hdl:2246/830.
  7. Hanneke J.M.; et al. "Continental-style avian extinctions on an oceanic island" (PDF). Repository.si.edu. Retrieved 17 October 2018.

Further reading