Gyps

Gyps
Error creating thumbnail:
Gyps fulvus from Naumann, Natural history of the birds of central Europe, 3rd ed. 1899
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Subfamily:	Aegypiinae
Genus:	Gyps Savigny, 1809
Type species
Gyps vulgaris = Vultur fulvus Savigny, 1809
Species
8 extant, 2 extinct; see text.

Gyps is a genus of Old World vultures that was proposed by Marie Jules César Savigny in 1809. Its members are sometimes known as griffon vultures. Gyps vultures have a slim head, a long slender neck with downy feathers, and a ruff around the neck formed by long buoyant feathers. The crown of their big beaks is a little compressed, and their big dark nostrils are set transverse to the beak. They have six or seven wing feathers, of which the first is the shortest and the fourth the longest.

Taxonomy

The genus Gyps was introduced in 1809 by the French zoologist Marie Jules César Savigny to accommodate the Eurasian griffon vulture. The genus name is from Ancient Greek gups meaning "vulture". The genus contains eight extant species.

Image	Name	Distribution and IUCN Red List status
File:PikiWiki Israel 38863 Wildlife and Plants of Israel.JPG	Eurasian griffon vulture G. fulvus (Hablitz, 1783)	File:Gyps fulvus distribution map.png LC
File:Gyps bengalensis PLoS.png	White-rumped vulture G. bengalensis (Gmelin, 1788)	India and Nepal, Pakistan CR
File:Cape Vulture - Giant Castle - South-Africa 010002 (15444476446).jpg	Cape vulture G. coprotheres (Forster, 1798)	Southern Africa VU
File:Vulture and Jackal eating together.jpg	Indian vulture G. indicus (Scopoli, 1786)	Pakistan, India and Nepal CR
File:Slender-billed Vulture, Mishmi Hills, India.jpg	Slender-billed vulture G. tenuirostris Gray, 1844	India CR
File:Rüppell's Vulture (Gyps rueppelli) (21160089681).jpg	Rüppell's vulture G. rueppelli (Brehm, 1852)	Sahel and East Africa CR
File:White-backed Vulture Chobe.jpg	White-backed vulture G. africanus Salvadori, 1865	West and center, East, Southern Africa CR
File:Himalayan Griffon - Bhutan S4E0109 (15464421711).jpg	Himalayan vulture G. himalayensis Hume, 1869	File:GypsHimalayensisMap.svg NT

Two fossil species have been described:

• † Maltese vulture G. melitensis Lydekker, 1890 – Fossil remains were found in Middle to Late Pleistocene sites all over the central and eastern Mediterranean.
• † G. bochenskii Boev, 2010 – Fossil remains were found near Varshets in northwestern Bulgaria that were dated to the Late Pliocene.