Lesser Spotted Eagle - Systematics, Taxonomy and Evolution

Systematics, Taxonomy and Evolution

The birds formerly considered to be the resident Indian subspecies are now considered a separate species, the Indian Spotted Eagle (Aquila hastata), quite distinct and readily separable by morphological, behavioral, ecological and DNA sequence data. The European taxon is actually closer to the Greater Spotted Eagle; 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 birds. 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".

The present species hybridizes occasionally with the Greater Spotted Eagle. Hybrid birds are almost impossible to identify if not seen from up close.