Gyps

Gyps
Gyps fulvus from Naumann, Natural history of the birds of central Europe, 3rd ed. 1899
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Accipitridae
Subfamily:	Aegypiinae
Genus:	Gyps Savigny, 1809
Type species
Gyps vulgaris[1] = Vultur fulvus Savigny, 1809
Species
8 extant, 2 extinct; see text.

Gyps is a genus of Old World vultures that was proposed by Marie Jules César Savigny in 1809. Its members are sometimes known as griffon vultures. Gyps vultures have a slim head, a long slender neck with downy feathers, and a ruff around the neck formed by long buoyant feathers. The crown of their big beaks is a little compressed, and their big dark nostrils are set transverse to the beak. They have six or seven wing feathers, of which the first is the shortest and the fourth the longest.