| Geronticus Temporal range: Middle Miocene to recent
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Nesting southern bald ibis (G. calvus) with young. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Threskiornithidae |
| Subfamily: | Threskiornithinae |
| Genus: | Geronticus Wagler, 1832 |
| Type species | |
| Tantalus calvus[1] Boddaert, 1783
| |
| Species | |
|
Geronticus calvus | |
The small bird genus Geronticus belongs to the ibis subfamily Threskiornithinae. Its name is derived from the Greek gérontos (γέρωντος, "old man")[2] in reference to the bald head of these dark-plumaged birds; in English, they are called bald ibises.
The genus was erected by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[3] The type species was subsequently designated as the southern bald ibis (Geronticus calvus).[4][5]
- ^ "Threskiornthidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ Brookes (2006) p.507
- ^ Wagler, Johann Georg (1832). "Neue Sippen und Gattungen der Säugthiere und Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 1832. cols 1218–1235 [1232].
- ^ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 67.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 264.