Nisaetus, the crested hawk-eagles, is a genus of raptor in the subfamily Aquilinae, found mainly in tropical Asia. They were earlier placed within the genus Spizaetus but molecular studies show that the Old World representatives of that genus are closer to the genus Ictinaetus than to the New World Spizaetus (in the stricter sense). They are slender-bodied, medium-sized hawk-eagles with rounded wings, long feathered legs, barred wings, crests and usually adapted to forest habitats.
Taxonomy and species
These Old World species were formerly placed in the genus Spizaetus. They were moved to the resurrected genus Nisaetus based on the results of molecular genetic studies published in 2005 and 2007.[1][2][3] The genus Nisaetus had been introduced in 1836 by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson with the mountain hawk-eagle as the type species.[4] The genus name Nisaetus combines the Medieval Latinnisus for a sparrowhawk with the Ancient Greekaetos meaning "eagle".[5] The genus contains ten species.[6]
^Helbig, A.J.; Kocum, A.; Seibold, I.; Braun, M.J. (2005). "A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 35 (1): 147–164. Bibcode:2005MolPE..35..147H. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.10.003. PMID15737588.
^Haring, E.; Kvaløy, K.; Gjershaug, J.-O.; Røv, N.; Gamauf, A. (2007). "Convergent evolution and paraphyly of the hawk-eagles of the genus Spizaetus (Aves, Accipitridae) – phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial markers". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 45 (4): 353–365. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2007.00410.x.
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