Aquila (genus)

Aquila

Temporal range: Middle Miocene to present

Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Aves
Order:  | Accipitriformes
Family:  | Accipitridae
Subfamily:  | Aquilinae
Genus:  | Aquila
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Aquila chrysaetos

Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms

* Hieraaetus Kaup, 1844

and see text

Aquila is the genus of true eagles. The genus name is Latin for "eagle", possibly derived from aquilus, "dark in colour".[1] It is often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavyset Accipitridae, but more recently they appear to be less distinct from the more slender accipitrine hawks than previously believed. Eagles are not a natural group, but denote essentially any bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrate prey.

## Contents

* 1 Taxonomy and systematics
* 2 Species
* 2.1 Fossil record
* 3 Notes
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Taxonomy and systematics

The genus Aquila was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) as the type species.[2][3] Aquila belongs to a close-knit group of "typical" eagles including genera Hieraaetus, Lophaetus, Ictinaetus, Clanga, and the extinct Harpagornis. This group occurs as a clade within the larger group of "booted" eagles (tribe Aquilini or subfamily Aquilinae).[4]

The plumage of the more basal members of the booted-eagle group, such as Spizaetus and Nisaetus, generally has barred underparts in adults, and is distinctly different in juveniles which have plain, pale underparts. In contrast, within the Aquila–Hieraaetus–Lophaetus clade, adults are generally dark, with juveniles more closely resembling the adults. Hieraaetus species have both dark and light (or "pied") morphs, with the latter having light, unbarred under-parts.[5]

Research in molecular genetics found Aquila and Hieraaetus to be polyphyletic. Between 2005 and 2014, the British Ornithologists' Union included both Bonelli's and the booted eagle in Aquila. Also, Clements' Checklist merged all Hieraetus species into Aquila from 2001 to 2009. The current approach is to keep Hieraaetus as a separate genus, with Bonelli's eagle and the African hawk-eagle moved into Aquila and Wahlberg's eagle moved into Hieraaetus.[6]

The spotted eagles Greater spotted eagle, Lesser spotted eagle, and Indian spotted eagle (previously Aquila clanga, A. pomarina, A. (p.) hastata) are thought to be genetically closer to Ictinaetus and Lophoaetus than to other Aquila species, and may be placed into a separate genus, Clanga.[4]

Members of Aquila (excluding those moved to Clanga and Hieraaetus, but including A. fasciata/spilogaster) share two deletions in the (nuclear) LDH gene, as well as similarities in mitochondrial cyt-B gene sequence, though one of these deletions is reverted in A. chrysaetos.[5]

## Species

The genus Aquila contains 11 species:[7]

Common name  | Scientific name [lower-alpha 1] | IUCN Red List Status  | Distribution  | Picture

|
|
|
|

Status | Trend  | Population[lower-alpha 2]
Bonelli's eagle  | Aquila fasciata
(Vieillot, 1822)  |  | 20,000 - 49,999  |  |
Cassin's hawk-eagle  | Aquila africana
(Cassin, 1865)[5] | LC IUCN[8] |  | 670 - 6,700  |  |
African hawk-eagle  | Aquila spilogaster
(Bonaparte, 1850)  | LC IUCN[9] |  |  |  |
Golden eagle  | Aquila chrysaetos
(Linnaeus, 1758)  |  | 100,000 - 200,000  |  |
Eastern imperial eagle  | Aquila heliaca
Savigny, 1809  |  | 2,500 - 9,999  |  |
Spanish imperial eagle  | Aquila adalberti
C. L. Brehm, 1861  |  | 970  |  |
Steppe eagle  | Aquila nipalensis
(Hodgson, 1833)  |  | 50,000 - 75,000  |  |
Tawny eagle  | Aquila rapax
(Temminck, 1828)  |  | 100,000 - 499,999  |  |
Verreaux's eagle  | Aquila verreauxii
Lesson, 1830  | LC IUCN[10] |  |  |  |
Gurney's eagle  | Aquila gurneyi
Gray, 1860  |  |  |  |
Wedge-tailed eagle  | Aquila audax
(Latham, 1801)  |  |  |  |

### Fossil record

Numerous fossil taxa of eagles have been described.[11][12] Many have been moved to other genera, but several appear to be correctly assigned to this genus:

* Aquila bullockensis (Middle Miocene)
* ?Aquila delphinensis (Middle/Late Miocene of Grive-Saint-Alban, France)
* ?Aquila pennatoides (Middle/Late Miocene of Grive-Saint-Alban, France)
* Aquila sp. (Late Miocene – Late Pliocene of S Europe)[12]
* Aquila sp. (Early Pliocene of Florida)
* Aquila bivia (Late Pliocene of S USA)
* Aquila kurochkini (Late Pliocene of Varshets, Bulgaria)[13]
* Aquila sp. (Middle Pleistocene of Castiglione, Corsica)[14]
* ?Aquila fossilis (Middle/Late Pleistocene of Monte Reale, Sardinia)
* ?Aquila sp. (Late Quaternary, Madagascar )[15]

Whether "Hieraaetus" edwardsi (Middle -? Late Miocene of SW Europe) belongs into Aquila or the hawk-eagles (if the latter are indeed distinct) is unclear. Its initial name, "Aquila" minuta Milne-Edwards, 1871, is preoccupied by a junior synonym of the booted eagle, A. minuta Brehm, 1831.

Not placed in Aquila anymore are:

* "Aquila" gervaisii – now in Palaeohierax
* "Aquila" borrasi, "A." sodalis – now in Buteogallus, B. borrasi was long placed in Titanohierax.
* "Aquila" pliogryps – now in Spizaetus
* "Aquila" corroyi, "A." depredator, "A." hypogaea, and "A." prisca – now in Aquilavus
* "Aquila" ferox, "A." lydekkeri – protostrigid owls, now in Minerva.

"Aquila" danana (Snake Creek Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Loup Fork, USA), occasionally placed in Geranoaetus or Buteo, was a bird of prey of unclear relationships.

## Notes

1. ↑ A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Aquila.
2. ↑ Estimate for the number of mature individuals in the wild.

## References

1. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling.
2. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760) (in French, Latin). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 28, Vol. 1, p. 419.
3. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 378. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109018.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Boyd, John Accipitriformes", Taxonomy in Flux Checklist.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Helbig, AJ; Kocum, A; Seibold, I; Braun, MJ (2005). "A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35 (1): 147–164. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.003. https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/6276/2005B_Helbig_et_al.pdf.
6. ↑ See article Hieraaetus for details.
7. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds (2019). "New World vultures, Secretarybird, kites, hawks, eagles". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/raptors/. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
8. ↑ "Aquila africana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22696138/0. Retrieved 31 October 2016. old-form url
9. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Aquila spilogaster". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012. https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22696084/0. Retrieved 2 November 2016. old-form url
10. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Aquila verreauxii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22696067A95221980. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696067A95221980.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22696067/95221980.
11. ↑ Brodkorb, Pierce (1964). "Catalogue of Fossil Birds: Part 2 (Anseriformes through Galliformes)". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 8 (3): 195–335.. http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=feol;subview=fullcitation;idno=UF00001511.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe Archived 2011-03-07 at WebCite . Ninox Press, Prague, p. 194.
13. ↑ Boev, Z., 2013. Aquila kurochkini sp. n., a New Late Pliocene Eagle (Aves, Accipitriformes) from Varshets (NW Bulgaria). - Paleontological Journal, 2013, Vol. 47, No. 11, pp. 1344–1354. Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2013.
14. ↑ Salotti, Michelle; Bellot-Gourlet, Ludovic; Courtois, Jean-Yves et al. (2000). "La fin du Pléistocène supérieur et le début de l'Holocène en Corse: apports paléontologique et archéologique du site de Castiglione (Oletta, Haute-Corse)" (in French). Quaternaire 11 (3): 219–230. doi:10.3406/quate.2000.1671. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/quate_1142-2904_2000_num_11_3_1671.
15. ↑ Madagascar and other Islands. Human Settlers Invade Paradise . Endangered Species Handbook. Retrieved on 2013-04-17.

## External links

Wikidata ☰ Q30085 entry

0.00

(0 votes)

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Biology:Aquila_(genus)&oldid=553489"