Neophroninae

Indian white-backed vultures Gyps bengalensis, photographed by Bruno Schmetz.

Belongs within: Accipitridae.

The Neophroninae (also known as Aegypiinae, though Bock 1994 argued that the name used here has priority) include the Old World vultures of Eurasia and Africa. The neophronines are mostly specialised feeders on carrion, though they are also capable of taking live prey.

<==Neophroninae [Aegypiinae, Percnopterinae]
    |--Trigonoceps occipitalis A61
    |--Neophron Savigny 1809 [incl. Percnopterus Rafinesque 1815] B94
    |    |--N. percnopterus WH02
    |    `--N. pileatus D66
    |--Torgos FP64
    |    |--T. calvus FP64
    |    `--T. tracheliotus FP64
    |--Aegypius Savigny 1809 B94, M02
    |    |--A. cinereus WH02 [=Vultur cinereus M05]
    |    |--A. funereus WH02
    |    `--A. monachus (Linnaeus 1766) (see below for synonymy) M02
    `--Gyps Savigny 1809 B94, M02 [Gypinae]
         |--G. bengalensis R02
         |--G. fulvus (Hablizl 1783) [=Vultur fulvus] B94
         |--G. indicus B66
         `--G. melitensis Lydekker 1890 [=Aegypius melitensis] M02

Aegypius monachus (Linnaeus 1766) [=Vultur monachus; incl. Gyps melitensis aegypioides Jánossy 1989, G. fulvus spelaeus Friant 1950, Torgos tracheliotus todei Kleinschmidt 1953] M02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A61] Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.

[B66] Beavan, R. C. 1866. Extracts from a letter addressed to the Secretary relating his trip to Zwagaben, and discovery of Nemorhaedus sumatrensis. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 2-4.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281.

[D66] Dohrn, H. 1866. Synopsis of the birds of Ilha do Principe, with some remarks on their habits and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 324-332.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[M05] Möller, R. 2005. Zur Biographie des Ornithologen Karl Friedrich Bruch (1789-1857). Mauritiana 19 (2): 327-357.

[R02] Raha, B. 2002. Grey heron Ardea cinerea scavenging on cattle carcass. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 516.

[WH02] Worthy, T. H., & R. N. Holdaway. 2002. The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press: Bloomington (Indiana).