and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa, or Etosha National Park in Namibia. Taxonomy The Accipitridae family (hereafter accipitrids) is by far the most diverse family of diurnal raptors in the world, with more than 230 currently accepted species. As a member of the booted eagle subfamily, Aquilinae, the martial eagle is one of the roughly 15% of extant species in the family to have feathers covering its legs. This helps distinguish these species from other eagles and raptors, as they are present even in tropical species such as the martial eagle. Under current classifications, booted eagles consist of approximately 38 living species that are distributed in every continent inhabited by the accipitrids, which excludes only the continent of Antarctica. Just under half of the living species of booted eagle are found in Africa. Studies have been conducted on the mitochondrial DNA of most booted eagle species, including the martial eagle, to gain insight on how the subfamily is ordered and which species bear relation to one another. DNA testing in the 1980s indicated the martial eagle was a specialized off-shoot of the small-bodied Hieraaetus eagles, and one study went so far as to advocate that the martial eagle be included in the genus. However, more modern and comprehensive genetic testing has shown that the martial eagle is distinct from other living booted eagles and diverged from other extant genera several million years ago. Genetically, the martial eagle fell between two other species in monotypical genera, the African long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis) and the Asian rufous-bellied eagle (Lophotriorchis kienerii), that similarly diverged long ago from other modern species. Given the disparity of this species’ unique morphology and that the two aforementioned most closely related living species are only about as large as the bigger buzzards, the unique heritage of the martial eagle is evident. There are no subspecies of martial eagle, and the species varies little in appearance and genetic diversity across its distribution. Description The martial eagle is a very large eagle. In total length, it can range from , with an average of approximately . Its total length – in comparison to its wingspan – is restricted by its relatively short tail. Nonetheless, it appears to be the sixth or seventh longest extant eagle species. The wingspan of martial eagles can range from . Wingspans of as much as have been reported but may be unsubstantiated. Average wingspans