- Common name
- Griffin
- Scientific name
- Gyps fulvus
- Type
- Bird
Description
The Griffin is a great vulture of the family Accipitridae, easily recognized by its reddish-brown plumage, with lighter shades on the back and wing coverts.
Its head and neck, covered with whitish down and almost devoid of feathers, are a peculiar feature related to its feeding habits: feeding on carcasses, this conformation helps to avoid the accumulation of biological residues.
This majestic bird of prey has a wingspan of 2.4 to 2.8 meters and a weight ranging from 6 to 11 kilograms, dimensions that make it one of the most imposing birds in Europe. Its broad wings enable it to take advantage of updrafts to fly long distances and cover great distances in search of food.
Once common throughout the Mediterranean basin, the griffon vulture is now a protected species under conservation programs. Its ecological role is crucial: acting as a "natural scavenger," it helps keep ecosystems healthy by removing carcasses and preventing the spread of disease.
Scientific Classification
- Domain
- Eukaryota
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipritiformes
- Family
- Accipritidae
- Genus
- Gyps
- Species
- fulvus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Subspecies
- fulvus (Hablizl 1783)
- Scientific name
- Gyps fulvus
- Scientific synonyms
- Vultur fulvus, Gyps bengalensis
Preserved specimen
The specimen exhibited at the museum was recovered on July 4, 2007 in the S. Jorio Valley, near the Brunedo Alp, and more precisely in the locality "Zocca della neve" (Stazzona Municipality).
The death of the specimen in question remains to this day unspecified in its causes:
The radioscopic and necroscopic examination that we requested during the course of the Judicial Police investigation at the ASL veterinary service ruled out its killing with a firearm (due to the absence of bullets in the carcass); in fact, the animal presented two non-passing piercings, placed perpendicularly there with respect to each other (one on the back and the other on the left flank), presumably caused by spikes of an unspecified nature.
Cataloging
- SIRBeC
- 7s060-00001
