Aquila (genus)

Taxobox
name = "Aquila"


image_width = 240px
image_caption = Adult Golden Eagle ("Aquila chrysaetos")
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Falconiformes
familia = Accipitridae
subfamilia = Buteoninae (disputed)
genus = "Aquila"
genus_authority =
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =See text
synonyms = "Hieraaetus" Kaup, 1844 and see text

"Aquila" is the genus of true eagles. It is often united with the buteos, sea eagles and other more heaviset Accipitridae, but more recently it appears as if they are less distinct from the more slender accipitrine hawks than 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.

Species

"Aquila" belongs to an extremely close-knit group of "typical" eagles. These include genera like "Hieraaetus", "Lophaetus", "Ictinaetus" and the extinct "Harpagornis", and all these appear to be paraphyletic with regards to the traditional "Aquila". Especially some, if not all, species of "Hieraaetus", separated primarily due to their smaller size, seem to belong here. The entire "typical eagle" group is in need of a thorough revision, and thus this species list cannot be more than a tentative one at present.

Most problematic is certainly "Hieraeetus", the hawk-eagles. It is known that the type species, the Booted Eagle, is very close to some "Aquila" eagles. Other hawk-eagles might indeed be distinct enough to warrant generic separation, but the name "Hieraaetus" is not available for them, being a junior synonym of "Aquila" as the Booted Eagle is included herein.

* Bonelli's Eagle, "Aquila fasciata" - formerly "Hieraaetus fasciatus"
* Booted Eagle, "Aquila pennata" - formerly "Hieraaetus pennatus"
* Little Eagle, "Aquila morphnoides" - formerly "Hieraaetus morphnoides"
* Rufous-bellied Eagle, "Aquila kienerii" - formerly "Hieraaetus kienerii"
* Golden Eagle, "Aquila chrysaetos"
* Eastern Imperial Eagle, "Aquila heliaca"
* Spanish Imperial Eagle "Aquila adalberti"
* Steppe Eagle, "Aquila nipalensis"
* Tawny Eagle, "Aquila rapax"
* Greater Spotted Eagle, "Aquila clanga" - to be moved to "Lophaetus" or "Ictinaetus"
* Lesser Spotted Eagle, "Aquila pomarina" - to be moved to "Lophaetus" or "Ictinaetus"
* Indian Spotted Eagle, "Aquila hastata" - recently split from "A. pomarina", to be moved to "Lophaetus" or "Ictinaetus"
* Verreaux's Eagle, "Aquila verreauxii"
* Gurney's Eagle, "Aquila gurneyi"
* Wahlberg's Eagle, "Aquila wahlbergi"
* Wedge-tailed Eagle, "Aquila audax"
** Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle, "Aquila audax fleayi"
* Malagasy Eagle, "Aquila" sp. (prehistoric) [http://www.endangeredspecieshandbook.org/madagascar_human.php]

Fossil record

Numerous fossil taxa of eagles have been described. [Brodkorb (1962), Mlíkovský (2002)] Many have been moved to other genera, but several appear correctly assigned to this genus:

*?"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) [Mlíkovský (2002): p.194]
*"Aquila" sp. (Early Pliocene of Florida)
*"Aquila bivia" (Late Pliocene of S USA)
*"Aquila" sp. (Middle Pleistocene of Castiglione, Corsica) [Salotti "et al." (2000)]
*"?Aquila fossilis" (Middle/Late Pleistocene of Monte Reale, Sardinia)

It is not clear whether "Hieraaetus" edwardsi" (Middle -? Late Miocene of SW Europe) belongs into "Aquila" or the hawk-eagles (if the latter are indeed distinct). Its initial name, "Aquila" minuta" Milne-Edwards, 1871, is preoccupied by a junior synonym of the Booted Eagle, "Aquila 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.

For paleosubspecies of living "Aquila", see the species accounts.

Footnotes

References

* (2002): "Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe". Ninox Press, Prague. ISBN 80-901105-3-8 [http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (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 PDF or JPEG fulltext]
* (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) [The end of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene in Corsica: New paleontological and archaeological data from Castiglione deposit (Oletta, Haute-Corse)] . "Quaternaire" 11: 219-230. [French with English abstract] [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=931025 HTML abstract]