Aquila (bird)

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Aquila
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present
Aquila chrysaetos Flickr.jpg
Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Aquilinae
Genus: Aquila
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Falco chrysaetos
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms

See text

3D scan of skeleton Aquila sp. 3d scan Natural History Museum University of Pisa AV 6650.stl
3D scan of skeleton

Aquila is the genus of true eagles. The genus name is Latin for "eagle", possibly derived from aquilus, "dark in colour". [1] It is often united with the sea eagles, buteos, and other more heavyset Accipitridae, but more recently they appear to be less distinct from the slenderer accipitrine hawks than previously believed. Eagles are not a natural group but denote essentially any bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrate prey.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus Aquila was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) as the type species. [2] [3] Aquila belongs to a close-knit group of "typical" eagles including genera Hieraaetus , Lophaetus , Ictinaetus and Clanga. This group occurs as a clade within the larger group of "booted" eagles (tribe Aquilini or subfamily Aquilinae). [4]

The plumage of the more basal members of the booted-eagle group, such as Spizaetus and Nisaetus , generally has barred underparts in adults, and is distinctly different in juveniles which have plain, pale underparts. In contrast, within the Aquila–Hieraaetus–Lophaetus clade, adults are generally dark, with juveniles more closely resembling the adults. Hieraaetus species have both dark and light (or "pied") morphs, with the latter having light, unbarred under-parts. [5]

Research in molecular genetics found Aquila and Hieraaetus to be polyphyletic. Between 2005 and 2014, the British Ornithologists' Union included both Bonelli's and the booted eagle in Aquila. Also, Clements' Checklist merged all Hieraetus species into Aquila from 2001 to 2009. The current approach is to keep Hieraaetus as a separate genus, with Bonelli's eagle and the African hawk-eagle moved into Aquila and Wahlberg's eagle moved into Hieraaetus. [6]

The spotted eagles greater spotted eagle, lesser spotted eagle, and Indian spotted eagle (previously Aquila clanga, A. pomarina, A. (p.) hastata) are thought to be genetically closer to Ictinaetus and Lophoaetus than to other Aquila species, and may be placed into a separate genus, Clanga . [4]

Members of Aquila (excluding those moved to Clanga and Hieraaetus, but including A. fasciata/spilogaster) share two deletions in the (nuclear) LDH gene, as well as similarities in mitochondrial cyt-B gene sequence, though one of these deletions is reverted in A. chrysaetos. [5]

Species

The genus Aquila contains 11 species: [7]

Genus Aquila Brisson, 1760 – eleven species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Steppe eagle

Steppe Eagle Portrait.jpg

Aquila nipalensis
(Hodgson, 1833)
Romania east through the south Russian and Central Asian steppes to Mongolia
AquilaNipalensis.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 EN 


50,000 - 75,000 [8] Decrease2.svg

Tawny eagle

2012-tawny-eagle-0.jpg

Aquila rapax
(Temminck, 1828)
Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert and across tropical southwestern Asia to India.
AquilaRapaxIUCNver2019 1.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 VU 


100,000 - 499,999 [9] Decrease2.svg

Spanish imperial eagle

Aquila adalberti.jpg

Aquila adalberti
C. L. Brehm, 1861
central and south-west Spain and adjacent areas of Portugal, in the Iberian peninsula
Aquila adalberti distr.PNG
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 VU 


1,060 - 1,080 [10] Increase2.svg

Eastern imperial eagle

Eastern Imperial Eagle cr.jpg

Aquila heliaca
Savigny, 1809
northeastern Africa and southern and eastern Asia
AquilaHeliacaIUCNver2019 1.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 VU 


2,500 - 9,999 [11] Decrease2.svg

Wedge-tailed eagle

Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) 2.jpg

Aquila audax
(Latham, 1801)
Australia, southern New Guinea, part of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia
AquilaAudaxIUCNver2019 1.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


[12] Increase2.svg

Golden eagle

Golden Eagle (34721101033).jpg

Aquila chrysaetos
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Eurasia and North America
AquilaChrysaetosIUCNver2018 2.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


85,000 - 160,000 [13] Steady2.svg

Cassin's hawk-eagle

Aquila africana.jpg

Aquila africana
(Cassin, 1865 [5] )
West, central and marginally east Africa; from Sierra Leone east to western Uganda south through the Congo Basin to northern AngolaSize:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


670 - 6,700 [14] Decrease2.svg

Gurney's eagle

AquilaGurneyiWolf.jpg

Aquila gurneyi
Gray, 1860
Moluccas to Irian Jaya and most of New GuineaSize:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


2,500 - 9,999 [15] Decrease2.svg

Verreaux's eagle

Witkruisarend.jpg

Aquila verreauxii
Lesson, 1830
southern and eastern Africa (extending marginally into Chad), and very locally in West Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the southern Middle East.
Aquila verreauxii distr.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


[16]

Bonelli's eagle

Bonelli's Eagle - Montsonis - Spain S4E8373 (24849913309).jpg

Aquila fasciata
(Vieillot, 1822)
southern Europe, Africa both north and south of the Sahara Desert and across the Middle East and South Asia to Indonesia
Hieraaetus fasciatus area.PNG
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


20,000 - 49,999 [17] Decrease2.svg

African hawk-eagle

African hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster).jpg

Aquila spilogaster
(Bonaparte, 1850)
tropical Sub-Saharan Africa
Hieraaetus spilogaster distr.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


[18] Decrease2.svg

Fossil record

Numerous fossil taxa of eagles have been described. [19] [20] Many have been moved to other genera, but several appear to be correctly assigned to this genus:

Whether "Hieraaetus" edwardsi (Middle -? Late Miocene of SW Europe) belongs into Aquila or the hawk-eagles (if the latter are indeed distinct) is unclear. Its initial name, "Aquila" minutaMilne-Edwards, 1871, is preoccupied by a junior synonym of the booted eagle, A. minutaBrehm, 1831.

Not placed in Aquila anymore are:

"Aquila" danana (Snake Creek Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Loup Fork, USA), occasionally placed in Geranoaetus or Buteo , was a bird of prey of unclear relationships.

Notes

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    References

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