Geronticus

Geronticus
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to recent
13–0 Ma
Nesting southern bald ibis (G. calvus) with young.
Scientific classification Edit this 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
Geronticus eremita
For fossil species, see text

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]

  1. ^ "Threskiornthidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  2. ^ Brookes (2006) p.507
  3. ^ Wagler, Johann Georg (1832). "Neue Sippen und Gattungen der Säugthiere und Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). 1832. cols 1218–1235 [1232].
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.