Systematics, Taxonomy and Evolution
The Lesser Spotted Eagle (A. pomarina) is this species' closest living relative; their common ancestor seems to have diverged around the middle Pliocene, perhaps some 3.6 million years ago (mya), from the ancestors of the Indian Spotted Eagle (A. hastata) that lives across Iran, Pakistan and India. The "proto-Spotted Eagle" probably lived in the general region of Afghanistan, being split into a northern and a southern lineage when both glaciers and deserts advanced in Central Asia as the last ice age began. The northern lineage subsequently separated into the eastern (Greater) and western (Lesser) species of today, probably around the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary not quite 2 mya.
The spotted eagles as a group are quite distinct from the typical members of Aquila, the "true eagles". They will probably be included with their putative tropical relatives in Lophaetus or Ictinaetus, or moved to a genus of their own in the near future.
Read more about this topic: Greater Spotted Eagle
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