The genus
Astur was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist
Bernard Germain de Lacépède. The
type species was later designated by the Irish zoologist
Nicholas Vigors as
Falco palumbarius Linnaeus, 1758, now considered as a
junior synonym of
Falco gentilis Linnaeus, 1758, the
Eurasian goshawk. The name is from
Latin astur,
asturis meaning "hawk". Species now placed in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus
Accipiter.
Molecular phylogenetic studies found that
Accipiter was
polyphyletic and in the subsequent rearrangement to create
monophyletic genera, the genus
Astur was resurrected in 2024 to contain nine species that were previously placed in
Accipiter. The genus contains nine species: }} }} }} }} }} == References ==