condor
Condor is the common name of the two largest bird species in the family of the New World Vulture (Cathartidae), the Andean condor ( Vultur gryphus ) and the California condor ( Gymnogyps californianus ). However, the two species are not closely related within the family and together do not form a taxon used in the current systematics .
Taxonomic History and Relationships
'Cóndor' (German: 'Kondor') is a Spanish loan word from Quechua kuntur . The Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century are likely to have been the first Europeans to see a condor.
The scientific name of the Andean condor, Vultur gryphus , was coined by Carl von Linné in 1758 . The California Condor was in 1797 by George Shaw (the pioneer of classification native Australian wildlife) under the name Vultur californianus first described and classified in the immediate relationship of the Andean condor. It was not until the 19th century that vultures were differentiated more taxonomically, and in 1842 René Lesson established the genus Gymnogyps for this species . Today, both species each belong to a monotypical genus ( Vultur or Gymnogyps ). *
Relationship analyzes based on comparisons of the cytochrome b gene revealed that the Andean condor is more closely related to the three Cathartes species ( turkey , lesser and greater yellow-headed vulture ) than to the California condor, which in turn is more closely related to the black vulture ( Coragyps atratus ) than with the Andean condor. The similarity of the two condor species is thus due to convergence .
comparison
Due to their generally dark plumage, the largely bare, reddish head and their size, both birds have a certain similarity. However, both have a significantly different facial physiognomy . a. of California Condor a dark fluff on its forehead, the male of the Andean condor other hand, a meaty comb. The male of the Andean condor also has a white ruff. In the case of the California condor, this is black. In flight , the Californian condor differs significantly from the Andean condor by the bright mirror on the underside of the wing.
- Head section, raised hide and flight image
California condor
Andean condor
Remarks
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Carolus Linnæus: Systema Naturæ. 10th edition. Volume 1. Stockholm 1758, p. 86 (and the following on the scope of the genre at that time) ( BHL )
- ↑ George Shaw, Frederick P. Nodder: The naturalist's miscellany, or colored figures of natural objects, 9th volume. London 1797, pl. 301 (i.e. the first in this volume) and accompanying text ( BHL )
- ^ René Lesson: Index ornithologique. L'Écho du Monde Savant. Ser. 2, Vol. 6, 1842, Col. 1035-1039 ( BHL )
- ↑ M. Wink: Phylogeny of Old and New World vultures (Aves: Accipitridae and Cathartidae) inferred from nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C. Vol. 50, No. 11-12, 1995, pp. 868-882, doi: 10.1515 / znc-1995-11-1220 , p. 877.