| Cathartes | |
|---|---|
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| Turkey vulture inMorro Bay, California | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Cathartidae |
| Genus: | Cathartes Illiger, 1811 |
| Type species | |
| Vultur aura[1][2] Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Species | |
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| Approximate distribution of the genusCathartes. Green indicates that at least one species is resident year-round and yellow shows areas where one species, the turkey vulture, is a summer-only breeding visitor. | |
The genusCathartes includes medium-sized to largecarrion-feeding birds in theNew World vulture (Cathartidae) family. The three extant species currently classified in thisgenus occur widely in theAmericas. There is one extinct species known from theQuaternary ofCuba.[3]
Cathartes is theGreek word καθαρτής, for "purifier," referring to these vultures' role as "cleansers" that "tidy up" decomposing corpses in nature.
The first member of this genus to be formally described, the turkey vulture, was named byLinnaeus asVultur aura in hisSystema Naturae in 1758,[4] but was eventually moved to the current genus which had been created by German zoologistJohann Illiger in 1811.[5] The yellow-headed birds first described in 1845 byJohn Cassin were not split into two species until 1964.[6][7]
Cathartes is one of the five genera ofNew World vultures. Thetaxonomic placement of these vultures remains unclear.[8] It is the only genus in its family that is notmonotypic. The New World andOld World vultures are similar in appearance and have similarecological roles, but evolved from different ancestors in widely separated parts of the world. The relationships between the two vulture groups is a matter of debate, with some earlier authorities suggesting that the New World vultures are more closely related tostorks.[9]
In 2007 theAmerican Ornithologists' Union's North American checklist moved Cathartidae back into the lead position inFalconiformes, but with an asterisk that indicates it is a taxon "that is probably misplaced in the current phylogenetic listing but for which data indicating proper placement are not yet available".[10] The AOU's draft South American checklist places the Cathartidae in their own order, Cathartiformes.[11] However, recent DNA study on the evolutionary relationships between bird groups also suggests that they are related to the other birds of prey and should be part of a new orderAccipitriformes instead,[12] a position adopted in 2010 by the AOU's North American check-list,[13] and shared with theInternational Ornithological Congress.[14]
The genusCathartes has three recognized extant species:[15][3]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey vulture
| Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) Five subspecies
| the Americas from southern Canada to Cape Horn | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC
|
| Lesser yellow-headed vulture
| Cathartes burrovianus Cassin, 1845 | Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC
|
| Greater yellow-headed vulture
| Cathartes melambrotus Wetmore, 1964 | South America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC
|
Oneextinct species,Emslie's vulture (C. emsliei) is known fromLate Quaternaryfossil remains fromCuba, and it likely went extinct following the extinction of themegafauna whosecarrion it would have fed on during theQuaternary extinction event, coupled with the subsequent loss of thesavanna habitats it would have favored.[19]
AllCathartes species have featherless heads with brightly colored skin, yellow to orange in the yellow-headed vultures, bright red in theturkey vulture. All three species share a well-developed sense of smell, which is rare in birds, that enables them to locate carrion under the canopy.
The vultures ofCathartes mostly occupy forests of the Americas, especially Mexico, Central America, and South America.
While all species obtain most of their diet by scavenging, the lesser yellow-headed vulture is known to hunt live prey in wetland environments.
Near Veracruz, Mexico.
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