The solitary eagles (formerly
Harpyhaliaetus) are a more inland relative of the "black-hawk" group of
Buteogallus – in
phenotype they are essentially hefty
common black-hawks with lighter body plumage and in one species a small crest. Insofar as there are differences in
anatomy, these seem to be related to the different prey they hunt (namely
reptiles). Together with the
savanna hawk, they seem to be close to some species that were uncomfortably placed in
Leucopternis. As that genus was apparently
polyphyletic, the present article follows a proposal to unite the solitary eagles as well as the slate-colored hawk (
"Leucopternis" schistaceus) with
Buteogallus, to agree with the
morphological and
mtDNA sequence data., with the addition of the white-necked hawk,
"Leucopternis" lacernulatus. For a long time various systematists have proposed moving the slate-colored hawk to
Buteogallus. Together with the crab hawks and solitary eagles form a sequence of plumage patterns that nicely agrees with the DNA-based phylogeny: the slate-colored hawk looks very much like a smaller, shorter-legged and lighter common black hawk. The case of the white-necked hawk is more puzzling. It is visually and
ecologically almost identical to the
sympatric mantled hawk (
Leucopternis polionotus) and some
allopatric white hawks (
L. albicollis) but differs in tail color. According to the mtDNA data, it is very closely related to the savanna hawk, which is visually dissimilar, appearing like a very light
Buteogallus which has an ochre-grey coloration due to abundant
pheomelanins. Either there has been strong
convergent evolution in plumage and ecology – perhaps a case of
mimicry – between the white-necked and the mantled hawks, or the mtDNA data is misleading due to ancient
hybrid introgression. In the respect, the white-necked hawk specimen sampled showed indications of
heteroplasmy. The placement of the peculiarly
apomorphic
rufous crab hawk in regard to all these birds must be considered unresolved for the time being. }} }} }}
Fossil record The
fossil record of
Buteogallus has meanwhile turned out to be quite rich indeed, with many species being erroneously assigned to other genera at first. The genus – like many
buteonines of today – probably succeeded earlier birds of prey during the
Miocene and never seems to have occurred outside the
Americas. From the time of the
last ice age, an array of prehistoric species is known, some of them very large. On
Cuba, a particularly gigantic species survived deep into the last ice age, but probably not until human settlement. • †
Buteogallus enectus (Middle Miocene; Sheep Creek, Sioux County, USA) • †
Buteogallus sodalis (Middle Pleistocene; Fossil Lake, Oregon) – formerly in
Aquila • †
Buteogallus fragilis (Late Pleistocene; Southwestern USA) – formerly in
Buteo or
Geranoaetus • †
Buteogallus milleri (Late Pleistocene of Southwestern USA) – formerly in
Buteo or
Geranoaetus • †
Buteogallus royi (Late Pleistocene of Cuba) • †
Buteogallus borrasi (
prehistoric) – formerly in
Aquila or
Titanohierax • †
Buteogallus daggetti (prehistoric) • †
Buteogallus woodwardi (Late Pleistocene, Southwestern USA) – formerly in
Amplibuteo • †
Buteogallus hibbardi (Late Pleistocene, Peru) – formerly in
Amplibuteo • †
Buteogallus concordatus (Late Pliocene of Florida) – formerly in
Amplibuteo • †
Buteogallus irpus (Late Pleistocene of Cuba and Dominican Republic) ==References==