- Laggar Falcon
Taxobox
name = Laggar Falcon
image_width = 220px
image_caption = Young adult
status = NT
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Aves
ordo =Falconiformes
familia =Falconidae
genus = "Falco"
subgenus = ("Hierofalco ")
species = "F. jugger"
binomial = "Falco jugger"
binomial_authority = J.E. Gray,1834 The Laggar Falcon ("Falco jugger") is a mid-sized
bird of prey which occurs in the Indian subcontinent from extreme south-eastIran , south-eastAfghanistan ,Pakistan , throughIndia ,Nepal ,Bhutan ,Bangladesh and north-westMyanmar .It resembles the
Lanner Falcon but is darker overall, and has blackish "trousers" (tibiotarsus feathers). Fledglings have an almost entirely dark underside, and first-year subadult birds still retain much dark on the belly.This
species belongs to a close-knit complex offalcon s known ashierofalcon s. In this group, there is ample evidence for rampant hybridization and incompletelineage sorting which confounds analyses ofDNA sequence data to a massive extent; molecular studies with smallsample size s can simply not be expected to yield reliable conclusions in the entire hierofalcon group. The radiation of the entire living diversity of hierofalcons seems to have taken place in theEemian interglacial at the start of theLate Pleistocene , a mere 130,000-115,000 years ago; the Laggar Falcon represents a lineage that arrived at its present range out of easternAfrica by way of theArabian Peninsula which during that time had a morehumid climate than today. [Helbig "et al." (1994), Wink "et al." (1998), Wink "et al." (2004), Nittinger "et al." (2005)]Laggar Falcons used to be the most common falcons in the region, but numbers have declined markedly in recent times and today it is probably nowhere a common species anymore. The main threats are the intensification of pesticide use in the region and use as a decoy to trap large falcons.
Gallery
References
*|year=2004|id=49514|title=Falco jugger|downloaded=11 May 2006 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened
* (1994): Phylogenetic relationships among falcon species (genus Falco) according to DNA sequence variation of the cytochrome b gene. "In:" aut|Meyburg, B.-U. & Chancellor, R.D. (eds.): "Raptor conservation today": 593-599. [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/1994/4.%201994.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2005): Out of Africa? Phylogenetic relationships between "Falco biarmicus" and other hierofalcons (Aves Falconidae). "Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research" 43(4): 321-331. doi|10.1111/j.1439-0469.2005.00326.x [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/2005/28.2005.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (1998): Molecular systematics of holarctic raptors (Order Falconiformes). "In:" aut|Chancellor, R.D., Meyburg, B.-U. & Ferrero, J.J. (eds.): "Holarctic Birds of Prey": 29-48. Adenex & WWGBP. [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/1998/31.%201998.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2004): Phylogenetic relationships in the Hierofalco complex (Saker-, Gyr-, Lanner-, Laggar Falcon). "In:" aut|Chancellor, R.D. & Meyburg, B.-U. (eds.): "Raptors Worldwide": 499-504. WWGBP, Berlin. [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/2004/27.2004.pdf PDF fulltext]External links
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3618&m=0 BirdLife Species factsheet]
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