Lappet-faced vulture

Lappet-faced vulture
At Etosha National Park, Namibia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Torgos
Species:
T. tracheliotos
Binomial name
Torgos tracheliotos
(Forster, 1796)
Subspecies[2]
  • T. t. negevensis - Bruun, Mendelssohn & Bull, 1981
  • T. t. tracheliotos - (Forster, JR, 1796)
Range of T. tracheliotos
  Resident
  Possibly Extant (resident)
  Non-breeding
  Extinct
  Probably extinct
Synonyms

Torgos tracheliotus (lapsus) Vultur tracheliotos J. R. Forster, 1796

Vultur auricularis Daudin, 1800

Vultur aegypius Temminck, 1826

Vultur imperialis Temminck, 1827

Vultur nubicus H. Smith, 1829

The lappet-faced vulture or Nubian vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) is an Old World vulture belonging to the bird order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Torgos. It is not closely related to the superficially similar New World vultures, and does not share the good sense of smell of some members of that family of birds.

The lappet-faced vulture was formerly considered monotypical, but now is separated into two subspecies. The nominate race lives throughout Africa. The subspecies T. t. negevensis, differing considerably in appearance from African vultures (as described below) is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2019). "Torgos tracheliotos". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22695238A155542069. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22695238A155542069.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v10.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2.