New World vultures
American Black Vultures on a cow carcass
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Cathartidae Lafresnaye, 1839
Genera
Cathartes Coragyps Gymnogyps Sarcorhamphus Vultur Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 489 pixelsFull resolution (1351 × 826 pixel, file size: 232 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) American Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) on a cow carcass, not far from Gueletao, Oaxaca, Mexico, May 31, 2005, by Jerry Friedman. ... Binomial name Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) A common New World vulture, the American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, tends to have a more southerly distribution than its compatriot, the Turkey Vulture, which breeds well into Canada. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Families Ardeidae Cochlearidae (the Boat-billed Heron) Balaenicipitidae (the Shoebill) Scopidae (the Hammerkop) Ciconiidae Threskiornithidae Cathartidae Traditionally, the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large, long-legged wading birds with large bills: storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, and several others. ... Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye (1783 - 1861) was a French ornithologist and collector. ... Species Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) Greater Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes melambrotus) Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) The genus Cathartes (Greek for purifier) includes medium-sized to large carrion-feeding birds in the New World vulture (Cathartidae) family. ... Binomial name Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) A common New World vulture, the American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, tends to have a more southerly distribution than its compatriot, the Turkey Vulture, which breeds well into Canada. ... Binomial name Vultur gryphus Linnaeus, 1758 Conservation status: Lower risk (nt) Binomial name Gymnogyps californianus (Shaw, 1797) Conservation status: Critical Condor is the name for two species of bird in one of the vulture families. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) The King Vulture or American King Vulture, Sarcoramphus papa, is the most strikingly colored of the New World vultures. ... Binomial name Vultur gryphus (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms Vultur fossilis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891 Vultur patruus Lönnberg, 1902 Vultur pratruus Emslie, 1988 (lapsus) The Andean Condor, Vultur gryphus, is a species of bird in one of the vulture families. ...

The New World vultures family Cathartidae contains seven species found in warm and temperate areas of the Americas. It includes five vultures and two condors. Except Cathartes, all genera are monotypic. The hierarchy of scientific classification In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. ... The hierarchy of scientific classification. ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... Orders Falconiformes (Fam. ... Genera Vultur Gymnogyps For other uses, see Condor (disambiguation). ... Species Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) Greater Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes melambrotus) Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) The genus Cathartes (Greek for purifier) includes medium-sized to large carrion-feeding birds in the New World vulture (Cathartidae) family. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Monotypic is an adjective, that refers to a taxonomic group with only one type: in botany it means that a taxon has only one species; Ginkgo is a monotypic genus, while Ginkgoaceae is a monotypic family. ...

Description

These birds are generally large, ranging in length from the Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture at 56–61 cm (22–24 inches) up to the California and Andean Condors, both of which can reach 120 centimeters (48 inches) in length and weigh 12 or more kilograms (26 or more pounds). Plumage is predominantly black, or brown, sometimes with white. All species have featherless heads. In some, this skin is brightly colored, and in the King Vulture it is developed into colorful wattles and outgrowths. Binomial name (Shaw, 1797) Synonyms Genus-level: Antillovultur Arredondo, 1976 Pseudogryphus Species-level: Vultur californianus Shaw, 1797 Gymnogyps amplus L. H. Miller, 1911 For other uses, see condor (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Vultur gryphus (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms Vultur fossilis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891 Vultur patruus Lönnberg, 1902 Vultur pratruus Emslie, 1988 (lapsus) The Andean Condor, Vultur gryphus, is a species of bird in one of the vulture families. ... The King Vulture or American King Vulture, Sarcoramphus papa, is the most strikingly colored of the New World vultures. ...

All species have long, broad wings and a stiff tail, suitable for soaring. The feet are clawed but weak. No New World vulture has a syrinx (Kemp and Newton 2003), so the voice is limited to infrequent grunts and hisses (Howell and Webb 1995). Syrinx is the name for the vocal cords of birds. ...

The nostrils are not divided by a septum (they are "perforate"), so from the side one can see through the beak (Allaby 1992), as in the Turkey Vulture. The nasal septum separates the left and right airways in the nose, dividing the two nostrils. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) The Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most common vulture in the Americas. ...

New World vultures have the unusual habit of urohidrosis, or defecating on their legs to cool them evaporatively. As storks do this too, it is one of the arguments for a close relationship between the two groups (Sibley and Ahlquist 1991). Urohidrosis (often written urohydrosis) is the habit in some birds of releasing feces or urine onto the scaly portions of the leg as a cooling mechanism, using evaporative cooling of the fluids. ... Evaporative cooling is a system in which latent heat of evaporation is used to carry heat away from an object to cool it. ... For other uses, see Stork (disambiguation). ...

Diet

All living species of New World vultures and condors are scavengers. Though their diet is overwhelmingly composed of carrion, some species such as the American Black Vulture have been recorded as killing live prey. Other additions to the diet include fruit, eggs, and garbage. Unusually for birds, the Cathartes species have a highly developed sense of smell, which they use to find carrion. Other species such as the American Black Vulture and the King Vulture have weak senses of smell and find food only by sight, sometimes by following Cathartes vultures and other scavengers (Kemp and Newton 2003). The unfeathered heads of these birds are an adaptation for feeding on rotting carrion. Categories: Stub ... An American Black Vulture feeding on squirrel carrion For other uses, see Carrion (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) A common New World vulture, the American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, tends to have a more southerly distribution than its compatriot, the Turkey Vulture, which breeds well into Canada. ...

Reproduction

New World vultures and condors do not build nests, instead laying eggs on bare surfaces. The young are altricial and fledge in 2 to 3 months (Howell and Webb 1995). In bird and mammal biology, altricial species are those whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile, have closed eyes, lack hair or down, and must be cared for by the adults. ...

Species in taxonomic order

Vultures:

• Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
• Greater Yellow-headed Vulture Cathartes melambrotus
• Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture Cathartes burrovianus
• King Vulture Sarcorhamphus papa
• American Black Vulture Coragyps atratus

Condors: Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) The Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most common vulture in the Americas. ... Binomial name Wetmore, 1964 The Greater Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes melambrotus) is a species of bird of prey in the Cathartidae family. ... Binomial name Cassin, 1845 The Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) is a species of bird of prey in the Cathartidae family. ... The King Vulture or American King Vulture, Sarcoramphus papa, is the most strikingly colored of the New World vultures. ... Binomial name Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) A common New World vulture, the American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, tends to have a more southerly distribution than its compatriot, the Turkey Vulture, which breeds well into Canada. ...

• California Condor Gymnogyps californianus
• Andean Condor Vultur gryphus

Binomial name (Shaw, 1797) Synonyms Genus-level: Antillovultur Arredondo, 1976 Pseudogryphus Species-level: Vultur californianus Shaw, 1797 Gymnogyps amplus L. H. Miller, 1911 For other uses, see condor (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Vultur gryphus (Linnaeus, 1758) Synonyms Vultur fossilis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891 Vultur patruus Lönnberg, 1902 Vultur pratruus Emslie, 1988 (lapsus) The Andean Condor, Vultur gryphus, is a species of bird in one of the vulture families. ...

Evolution and systematics

The New World vultures have a pervious nostril

Although New World vultures have many resemblances to Old World vultures (traditionally considered part of the bird-of-prey order Falconiformes, though now often classified in a different order^{[citation needed]}), they are not very closely related. Rather, they resemble Old World vultures because of convergent evolution. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Genera See text. ... Families Accipitridae Pandionidae Falconidae Sagittariidae The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that include the diurnal birds of prey. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ... In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related, independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. ...

New World vultures were traditionally placed in a family of their own in the Falconiformes (Sibley and Ahlquist 1991). However, in the late 20th century some ornithologists argued that they are more closely related to storks on the basis of karyotype (de Boer 1975), morphological (Ligon 1967), and behavioral (König 1982) data. Thus some authorities place them in the Ciconiiformes with the storks and herons; Sibley and Monroe (1990) even considered them a subfamily of the stork family. This has been criticized as an oversimplification^{[citation needed]} and recently genetic evidence has been presented against it (Cracraft et al. 2004, Gibb et al. 2007). Consequently, there is a recent trend to raise the New World vultures to the rank of an independent order Cathartiformes not closely associated with either birds of prey or storks or herons (Ericson et al. 2006). In 2007 the American Ornithologists' Union's North American checklist moved Cathartidae back into the lead position in Falconiformes (American Ornithologists' Union 2007. The AOU's draft South American checklist calls the Cathartidae incertae sedis (of uncertain position) rather than placing it any order (Remsen et al. 2007). For other uses, see Stork (disambiguation). ... Karyogram of human male using Giemsa staining. ... Families Ardeidae Cochlearidae (the Boat-billed Heron) Balaenicipitidae (the Shoebill) Scopidae (the Hammerkop) Ciconiidae Threskiornithidae Cathartidae Traditionally, the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large, long-legged wading birds with large bills: storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, and several others. ... Genera See text. ... The American Ornithologists Union (AOU) an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders. ... Families Accipitridae Pandionidae Falconidae Sagittariidae The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that include the diurnal birds of prey. ...

Extinct species and fossils

A related extinct family were the Teratornithidae or Teratorns, essentially an exclusively (North) American counterpart to the New World vultures - the latter were, in prehistoric times, also present in Europe and possibly even evolved there. The Incredible Teratorn is sometimes called "Giant Condor" because it must have looked similar to the modern bird. They were, however, not very closely related but rather an example of parallel evolution, and the external similarity is less emphasized in recent times due to new information suggesting that the teratorns were more predatory than vultures (Campbell & Tonni 1983). Teratorns were very large birds of prey who lived in North and South America from Miocene to Pleistocene. ... Binomial name Aiornis incredibilis (Howard, 1952) Synonyms Teratornis incredibilis Aiornis incredibilis (formerly Teratornis incredibilis), the Incredible Teratorn, was the largest known North American flight-capable bird, with a wingspan of 5 meters (16 or 17 feet) and a huge, deep, powerful bill. ... Bee hovering in flight In evolutionary biology, parallel evolution refers to the independent evolution of similar traits in closely related lineages of species, while convergent evolution refers to the appearance of striking similarities among lineages of organisms only very distantly related. ...

The fossil history of the Cathartidae is fairly extensive, but nonetheless confusing. Many taxa that may or may not have been New World vultures were considered to be early representatives of the family. There is no unequivocal European record from the Neogene and trying to retrace the evolutionary history of the entire Ciconiiformes sensu Sibley & Ahlquist by means of molecular analysis has proven to be just as equivocal until the mid-2000s. Neogene Period is a unit of geologic time consisting of the Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene epochs. ... The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird taxonomy based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. ... The 2000s are the current decade, spanning from 2000 to 2009. ...

At any rate, the Cathartidae had a much higher diversity in the Plio-/Pleistocene, rivalling the current diversity of Old World vultures and their relatives in shapes, sizes, and ecological niches. Extinct genera are: The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) on the geologic timescale is the period from 1,808,000 to 11,550 years BP. The Pleistocene epoch had been intended to cover the worlds recent period of repeated glaciations. ...

• Diatropornis (Late Eocene/Early Oligocene -? Middle Oligocene of France)
• Phasmagyps (Early Oligocene of WC North America)
• Brasilogyps (Late Oligocene - Early Miocene of Brazil)
• Hadrogyps (Middle Miocene of SW North America)
• Pliogyps (Late Miocene - Late Pliocene of S North America)
• Perugyps (Pisco Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of SC Peru)
• Dryornis (Early - Late? Pliocene of Argentina; may belong to modern genus Vultur)
• Aizenogyps (Late Pliocene of SE North America)
• Breagyps (Late Pleistocene of SW North America)
• Geronogyps (Late Pleistocene of Peru)
• Wingegyps (Late Pleistocene of Brazil)
• Parasarcoramphus

Fossils found in Mongolia (Late Oligocene), Lee Creek Mine, USA (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene), Argentina (Middle Pliocene) and in more recent deposits on Cuba have not been assigned to a genus yet. There is also a number of extinct congeners of the extant species; see the respective genus accounts.

A European genus from the Earliest Neogene that possibly belongs to the New World vultures is Plesiocathartes. On the other hand, the bathornithid Neocathartes was long believed to be a peculiar New World vulture (including charming, but inaccurate reconstructions as a kind of Turkey Vulture on stilts [1]). Binomial name Synonyms Genus-level: Eocathartes Wetmore, 1944 (preoccupied) Species-level: Bathornis grallator Olson, 1985 Neocathartes is an extinct genus of gruiform bird. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) The Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most common vulture in the Americas. ...

References

• Check-list of North American Birds. American Ornithologists' Union (1998–2006). Retrieved on 2007-04-09.

• Allaby, Michael (1992). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Zoology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 348. ISBN 0192860933.

• Avise, J. C.; Nelson, W. S. & Sibley, C. G. (1994) DNA sequence support for a close phylogenetic relationship between some storks and New World vultures. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91(11): 5173-5177. doi:10.1073/pnas.91.11.5173 PDF fulltext. Erratum, PNAS 92(7); 3076 (1995). doi:10.1073/pnas.92.7.3076b (PDF fulltext)

• Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. & Tonni, E. P. (1983): Size and locomotion in teratorns. Auk 100(2): 390-403 PDF fulltext

• de Boer, L. E. M.(1975): Karyological heterogeneity in the Falconiformes (Aves). Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 31(10): 1138-1139. doi:10.1007/BF02326755 (HTML abstract)

• Cracraft, J., F. K. Barker, M. Braun, J. Harshman, G. J. Dyke, J. Feinstein, S. Stanley, A. Cibois, P. Schikler, P. Beresford, J. García-Moreno, M. D. Sorenson, T. Yuri, and D. P. Mindell. 2004. Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): toward an avian tree of life. Pp. 468-489 in Assembling the tree of life (J. Cracraft and M. J. Donoghue, eds.). Oxford University Press, New York. Accessed 2007-04-10.

• Ericson, Per G. P.; Anderson, Cajsa L.; Britton, Tom; Elżanowski, Andrzej; Johansson, Ulf S.; Kallersjö, Mari; Ohlson, Jan I.; Parsons, Thomas J.; Zuccon, Dario & Mayr, Gerald (2006): Diversification of Neoaves: integration of molecular sequence data and fossils. Biology Letters, in press. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0523 PDF preprint Electronic Supplementary Material

• Gibb, G. C., O. Kardailsky, R. T. Kimball, E. L. Braun, and D. Penny. 2007. Mitochondrial genomes and avian phylogeny: complex characters and resolvability without explosive radiations. Molecular Biology Evolution 24: 269–­280. HTML abstract accessed 2007-04-10.

• Howell, Steve N.G., and Sophie Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York: Oxford University Press, page 174. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.

• Kemp, Alan, and Ian Newton (2003): New World Vultures. In Christopher Perrins, ed., The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books, page 146–147. ISBN 1-55297-777-3.

• Ligon, J. D. (1967): Relationships of the cathartid vultures. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 651: 1-26.

• Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. [Version 2007-04-05.] A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union. Accessed 2007-04-10.

• Sibley, Charles G. and Burt L. Monroe. 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of the Birds of the World. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04969-2. Accessed 2007-04-11.

• Sibley, Charles G., and Jon E. Ahlquist. 1991. Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04085-7. Accessed 2007-04-11.

• Wink, M. (1995): Phylogeny of Old and New World vultures (Aves: Accipitridae and Cathartidae) inferred from nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung 50(11-12): 868-882.

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), mostly commonly referred to as PNAS, is the official publication of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... The Auk is a quarterly journal and the official publication of the American Ornithologists Union, having been continuously published by that body since 1883. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Professor Christopher Miles Chris Perrins, FRS is a British biologist. ... Charles Sibley (August 7, 1917 - April 12, 1998) was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. ... Jon Edward Ahlquist specialized in molecular phylogenetics and ornithology, collaborating extensively with Charles Sibley, primarily at Yale University. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Cathartidae

Wikispecies has information related to:

Cathartidae

• New World vulture videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• New World Vulture sounds on xeno-canto.org