Sarcoramphus | |
---|---|
Juvenile and adult king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Accipitriformes |
Family: | Cathartidae |
Genus: | Sarcoramphus Duméril, 1805 |
Species | |
Sarcoramphus is a genus of New World vulture that contains a single extant species, the king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa).
Extinct members of the genus include the Kern vulture (Sarcoramphus kernense) from the mid-Pliocene of North America,[1] and Sarcoramphus fischeri from the Late Pleistocene of Peru.[2]
A hypothetical species known as the painted vulture is also assigned to this genus, but no concrete proof of its existence has been found as of yet.[3]