LesTension

By LesTension

KEEPING COOL ON A HOT DAY

Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus); a near threatened Eurasian species.  This one lives with others like it at the zoo in Milwaukee, WI, U.S.A.
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WIKI:  The cinereous vulture, also known as the black vultureEurasian black vulture, and monk vulture, is a very large raptor in the family Accipitridae distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. With a body length of 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in), 3.1 m (10 ft) across the wings and a maximum weight of 14 kg (31 lb), it is the largest Old World vulture and largest member of the family Accipitridae.
Aegypius monachus is one of the largest birds of prey and it plays a huge role in its various ecosystems by eating carcasses, which in turn reduces the spread of diseases. The vultures are constantly exposed to many pathogens because of their eating carrion. A study of the gastric and immune defense systems conducted in 2015 sequenced the bird's entire genome. The study compared cinereous vultures to bald eagles, finding positively selected genetic variations associated with respiration and the ability of the vulture's immune defense responses and gastric acid secretion to digest carcasses.
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BEST IN LARGE.

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