The Key to Scientific Names
- gryphus
L. gryphus griffin < Gr. γρυψ grups, γρυπος grupos griffin; “Quite wrongly certain scholars call the Vulture Gryps, confounding foolishly the Vulture and the Gryps, since the Gryps is a Gryphon, or an animal believed to be both winged and quadruped” (Turner 1544); "40. VULTUR. ... Gryphus. 1. V. maximus, caruncula verticali longitudine capitis. Vultur Gryps Gryphus. Klein. av. 45. Cuntur. Raj. av. 11. Habitare fertur Chili. Rara avis in terris; mihi ignota; videsis Kleinium." (Linnaeus 1758). This epithet is the first name and autochthonym in modern avian nomenclature (Vultur).
- Gryphus
(Cathartidae; syn. Vultur † Andean Condor V. gryphus) Specific name Vultur gryphus Linnaeus, 1758; "Le condor, vultur gryphus des auteurs, semble seul faire exception par sa grande taille; mais plusieurs caractères véritablement génériques le distinguent, soit de tous les vautours proprement dits, soit du sarcoramphe, et il doit former un genre nouveau, genre que j'ai fait connaître dans mes cours sous les noms de Condor, gryphus." (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1841); "2. GRYPHUS, Is. Geoffr. - 2. cuntur, Dum. (condor, Less.) - 3. californianus, Shaw" (Bonaparte 1854); "Gryphus I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1841, Essais de Zoologie Générale, 367, footnote 1. Type, by tautonymy, "Vultur gryphus des auteurs" = Vultur gryphus Linnaeus, 1758." (JAJ 2020).
- Pseudogryphus
(Cathartidae; syn. Gymnogyps † California Condor G. californianus) Gr. ψευδος pseudos false; genus Gryphus Bonaparte, 1854, condor; "2. Pseudogryphus. Nostril occupying only the posterior third of the nasal orifice, its anterior end acute. Bill weak, the terminal hook only slightly developed, the mandibles broader than deep, the lower as deep as the upper. Head and neck without corrugations or caruncles. Tarsus slightly longer than the middle toe; fourth or fifth quill longest; extremities of the quills reaching to or beyond the end of the tail. Tail even. (P. californianus.) ... GENUS PSEUDOGRYPHUS, RIDGWAY. ... Size very large, and aspect vulturine. ... The single species composing this very distinct genus belongs to Western North America, and, so far as known, has the most restricted distribution of any large raptorial bird in the world. It is remarkable for its very large size, all its dimensions nearly, if not quite, equalling those of the famed Condor of the Andes (Sarcorhamphus gryphus)." (Ridgway 1874); "Pseudogryphus Ridgway, in Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Hist. N. Amer. Bds., 3, p. 337, Jan., 1874—type, by orig. desig., Vultur californianus Shaw." (Hellmayr and Conover, 1949, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (4), p. 14).
Var. Pseudogryps.- Rhinogryphus
(Cathartidae; syn. Cathartes † Turkey Vulture C. aura) Gr. ῥις rhis, ῥινος rhinos nostrils; genus Gryphus Bonaparte, 1854, condor; "Rhinogryphus. Nostril occupying the whole of the nasal cavity, its anterior end broadly rounded; cere as deep as broad, the upper and lower outlines divergent posteriorly, the former considerably arched; lower mandible much less deep than the upper. ... Type, Vultur aura, L." (Ridgway 1874); "Rhinogryphus Ridgway, in Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Hist. N. Amer. Bds., 3, p. 343, Jan., 1874—type, by orig. desig., Vultur aura Linnaeus." (Hellmayr and Conover, 1949, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. I (4), p. 6).
