NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Indian Vulture
Gyps indicus (Scopoli, 1786)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Indian vulture or long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) is a bird of prey native to the Indian subcontinent. It is an Old World vulture belonging to the family of Accipitridae. It is a medium-sized vulture with a small, semi-bald head with little feathers, long beak, and wide dark colored wings. It breeds mainly on small cliffs and hilly crags in central India and south India. The Indian vulture is a keystone species that has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as the population has severely declined during the Indian vulture crisis. It is estimated that there are 5,000-15,000 mature individuals in the wild. The main cause of the decline was identified as kidney failure caused by the drug diclofenac, which was commonly given to cattle to reduce joint pain. It is thought that diclofenac poisoned vultures that ate the flesh of dead cattle. Diclofenac bans were enacted in India, Pakistan and Nepal in 2006.
Wikipedia contributors, Indian vulture; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:06:09.743621+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gyps indicus (Scopoli, 1786)
- Name authority
- (Scopoli, 1786)
- Common name
- Indian 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 indicus (Scopoli, 1786)
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 |
| Himalayan VultureGyps himalayensis Hume, 1869 | 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 |
| Cape VultureGyps coprotheres (J. R. Forster, 1798) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Vultur indicus Scopoli, 1786 Scopoli, 1786 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=175489 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:6L7CJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.