Aegypiinae

Aegypiinae
File:Gyps africanus Torgos tracheliotus.jpg
Lappet-faced vultures (left) and a white-backed vulture
Scientific classification Edit this classification
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).

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.

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.

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.

Aegypiinae	Necrosyrtes – hooded vulture Gyps – vultures (8 species) Sarcogyps – red-headed vulture Trigonoceps – white-headed vulture Torgos – lappet-faced vulture Aegypius – cinereous vulture

Genera

Genus	Common and binomial names	Image	Range
Necrosyrtes Gloger, 1841	Hooded vulture Necrosyrtes monachus	File:Vulture in Tanzania 3118 cropped Nevit.jpg	Sub-Saharan Africa
Gyps Savigny, 1809	Griffon vulture Gyps fulvus	File:Белоглав лешояд - 1.jpg	Mountains in southern Europe, north Africa and Asia
	White-rumped vulture Gyps bengalensis	File:Gyps bengalensis PLoS.png	Northern and central India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and southeast Asia
	Rüppell's vulture Gyps rueppelli	File:Gyps rueppellii -Nairobi National Park, Kenya-8-4c.jpg	The Sahel region of central Africa
	Indian vulture Gyps indicus	File:The Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) or Long-billed Vulture.jpg	Central and peninsular India
	Slender-billed vulture Gyps tenuirostris	File:Gyps tenuirostris.png	The Sub-Himalayan regions of India and into Southeast Asia
	Himalayan vulture Gyps himalayensis	File:Himalayan Vulture (by a road) (2926948182).jpg	The Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau
	White-backed vulture Gyps africanus	File:White-backed Vulture Chobe.jpg	Savannahs of west and east Africa
	Cape vulture Gyps coprotheres	File:Cape Vulture - Giant Castle - South-Africa 010002 (15444476446).jpg	Southern Africa
Sarcogyps Lesson, 1842	Red-headed vulture Sarcogyps calvus	File: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	File:Trigonoceps occipitalis -Kruger National Park, South Africa -flying-8.jpg	Sub-Saharan Africa. Extinct populations have occurred in Indonesia.
Torgos Kaup, 1828	Lappet-faced vulture Torgos tracheliotos	File:Nubianvulture.jpeg	Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sinai and Negev deserts and north-west Saudi Arabia
Aegypius Savigny, 1809	Cinereous vulture Aegypius monachus	File: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

Subfamily	Genus	Common and binomial names	Image	Range
Aegypiinae	†Cryptogyps	†Cryptogyps lacertosus		Pleistocene of Australia
	†Gansugyps	†Gansugyps linxiaensis		Miocene of China

† = extinct