Jump to content

Gyps: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→Extant Species: revised table + int links
Line 14: Line 14:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Common Name !! Distribution
! Image !! Name !! Distribution
|-
|-
|[[File:White-backed Vulture Chobe.jpg|120px]] || ''Gyps africanus'' || [[White-backed vulture]] || west and east Africa
|[[File:White-backed Vulture Chobe.jpg|frameless]] || [[White-backed vulture]] ''G. africanus'' || west and east Africa
|-
|-
|[[File:Gyps bengalensis PLoS.png|120px]] || ''Gyps bengalensis'' || [[White-rumped vulture]] || Throughout India, but common in North-West,Central and South India
|[[File:Gyps bengalensis PLoS.png|frameless]] || [[White-rumped vulture]] ''G. bengalensis'' || Throughout India, but common in northwest, central and southern India
|-
|-
|[[File:Cape Vulture, Gyps coprotheres at Kruger National Park (13911811003).jpg|120px]] || ''Gyps coprotheres'' || [[Cape griffon]] || Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
|[[File:Cape Vulture, Gyps coprotheres at Kruger National Park (13911811003).jpg|frameless]] || [[Cape griffon]] ''G. coprotheres'' || Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
|-
|-
|[[File:PikiWiki Israel 38863 Wildlife and Plants of Israel.JPG|120px]] || ''Gyps fulvus'' || [[Griffon vulture]] || Europe and Asia,as far south as the southern Himalayas
|[[File:PikiWiki Israel 38863 Wildlife and Plants of Israel.JPG|frameless]] || [[Griffon vulture]] ''G. fulvus'' || Europe and Asia to southern [[Himalayas]]
|-
|-
|[[File:Himalayan Griffon - Bhutan S4E0109 (15464421711).jpg|120px]] || ''Gyps himalayensis'' || [[Himalayan vulture]] || the Himalayas, the Pamirs, Kazakhstan and on the Tibetan Plateau, with northwestern limits of the breeding range being in Afghanistan and southern limits in Bhutan
|[[File:Himalayan Griffon - Bhutan S4E0109 (15464421711).jpg|frameless]] || [[Himalayan vulture]] ''G. himalayensis'' || Himalayas, [[Pamir Mountains]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Tibetan Plateau]], with northwestern limits of the breeding range being in Afghanistan and southern limits in Bhutan
|-
|-
|[[File:Indian Vulture- Gyps indicus.jpg|120px]] || ''Gyps indicus'' || [[Indian vulture]], formerly long-billed vulture || Throughout India,Pakistan and Nepal
|[[File:Indian Vulture- Gyps indicus.jpg|frameless]] || [[Indian vulture]] ''G. indicus'', formerly long-billed vulture || Throughout India, Pakistan and Nepal
|-
|-
|[[File:Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) (21160089681).jpg|120px]] || ''Gyps rueppelli'' || [[Rüppell's vulture]] || Sahel region of central Africa
|[[File:Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) (21160089681).jpg|frameless]] || [[Rüppell's vulture]] ''G. rueppelli'' || [[Sahel]] region of central Africa
|-
|-
|[[File:Slender-billed Vulture, Mishmi Hills, India (cropped).jpg|120px]] || ''Gyps tenuirostris'' || [[Slender-billed vulture]] || India from the Gangetic plain north, west to Himachal Pradesh, south potentially as far as northern Odisha, and east through Assam
|[[File:Slender-billed Vulture, Mishmi Hills, India (cropped).jpg|frameless]] || [[Slender-billed vulture]] ''G. tenuirostris'' || India from the [[Gangetic plain]] north, west to [[Himachal Pradesh]], south potentially as far as northern [[Odisha]] and east through [[Assam]]
|-
|-
|}
|}

Revision as of 15:58, 3 June 2020

Gyps
Griffon vulture Gyps fulvus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Aegypiinae
Genus: Gyps
Savigny, 1809
Species

See text.

Gyps (from Greek γύψ gýps, "vulture") is a genus of Old World vultures in the bird family Accipitridaes. Created by Marie Jules César Savigny in 1809, it contains the following extant species:[1]

Extant Species

Image Name Distribution
White-backed vulture G. africanus west and east Africa
White-rumped vulture G. bengalensis Throughout India, but common in northwest, central and southern India
Cape griffon G. coprotheres Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
Griffon vulture G. fulvus Europe and Asia to southern Himalayas
Himalayan vulture G. himalayensis Himalayas, Pamir Mountains, Kazakhstan, Tibetan Plateau, with northwestern limits of the breeding range being in Afghanistan and southern limits in Bhutan
Indian vulture G. indicus, formerly long-billed vulture Throughout India, Pakistan and Nepal
Rüppell's vulture G. rueppelli Sahel region of central Africa
Slender-billed vulture G. tenuirostris India from the Gangetic plain north, west to Himachal Pradesh, south potentially as far as northern Odisha and east through Assam

These are the typical vultures, with bald head, broad wings and mainly dark plumage. They are large scavenging birds, feeding mostly from carcasses of dead animals. Old World vultures find carcasses exclusively by sight. Representatives of this group are found throughout warmer parts of the Old World.

Compared to other vultures, Gyps species have quite feathered heads, with characteristic downy covers. Indeed, rather than being an adaptation for scavenging as once thought, it seems to be related to thermoregulation.

A prehistoric species is known only from fossil remains found in Middle to Late Pleistocene sites all over the central and eastern Mediterranean: Gyps melitensis. Recently, a fossil species Gyps bochenskii has been described from the late Pliocene in Bulgaria.[2]

References

  1. ^ "ITIS Report: Gyps". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ^ Boev, Z. 2010. Gyps bochenskii sp. n. (Aves: Falconiformes) from the Late Pliocene of Varshets (NW Bulgaria). – Acta zoologica bulgarica, 62 (2): 211-242.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gyps.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gyps&oldid=960554360"