NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Himalayan Vulture
Gyps himalayensis Hume, 1869
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Gyps himalayensis seen at Lower Waterfall area, Rupin Pass trail, Shimla Dist, Himachal Pradesh
Sahana M · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis) or Himalayan griffon vulture is an Old World vulture native to the Himalayas and foothills in North and Northeastern India, as well as the adjacent Tibetan Plateau. After the cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), it is the second-largest Old World vulture species, and among the world's largest true raptors. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. It is not to be confused with the Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), which is a visually similar, sympatric species.
Wikipedia contributors, Himalayan vulture; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:28:25.766795+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gyps himalayensis Hume, 1869
- Name authority
- Hume, 1869
- Common name
- Himalayan Vulture
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Gyps
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
- genusGyps Savigny, 1809
- speciesGyps himalayensis Hume, 1869
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gyps. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-backed VultureGyps africanus Salvadori, 1865 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Griffon VultureGyps fulvus (Hablizl, 1783) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rüppell's VultureGyps rueppelli (A. E. Brehm, 1852) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Slender-billed VultureGyps tenuirostris G. R. Gray, 1844 | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Indian VultureGyps indicus (Scopoli, 1786) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cape VultureGyps coprotheres (J. R. Forster, 1798) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Hume, & Allan Octavian. (1869). My Scrapbook: Or Rough Notes on Indian Oology and Ornithology. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3HXND. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.