Corythornis

Last updated

Corythornis
Malachite Kingfisher - Portrait.jpg
Malachite kingfisher (Corythornis cristatus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Alcedininae
Genus: Corythornis
Kaup, 1848
Type species
Alcedo nais
Kaup, 1848
Species

see text

Phylogeny
Corythornis

Madagascar pygmy kingfisher

White-bellied kingfisher

Malagasy kingfisher

Malachite kingfisher

Cladogram based on Andersen et al. (2017) [1]

Corythornis is a genus of small African river kingfishers.

Contents

A molecular phylogenetic study of the alcedinine kingfishers published in 2007 found that the genera as then defined did not form monophyletic groups. The species were subsequently rearranged into four genera, with four species in the resurrected genus Corythornis. [2] The genus had been introduced by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848. [3] The type species is the Príncipe kingfisher (Alcedo cristatus nais). [4] Corythornis is the sister group to the genus Ispidina containing two small African kingfishers. [1]

Species

The genus contains the following four species: [5]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Ceyx madagascariensis -Mantadia National Park, Madagascar-8.jpg Corythornis madagascariensis Madagascar pygmy kingfisher Madagascar
White-bellied Kingfisher - Ghana S4E2155 (cropped).jpg Corythornis leucogaster White-bellied kingfisher Guinea to Mali and Ghana, Nigeria to north west Angola, Bioko Island, east Congo to south Uganda and northwest Zambia
Malachite kingfisher (Corythornis cristatus cristatus) Namibia.jpg Corythornis cristatus Malachite kingfisher Sub-Saharan Africa except for the very arid parts of Somalia, Kenya, Namibia and Botswana.
Madagascar malachite kingfisher (Corythornis vintsioides vintsioides).jpg Corythornis vintsioides Malagasy kingfisher Madagascar, Mayotte and the Comoros.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belted kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The belted kingfisher is a large, conspicuous water kingfisher, native to North America. All kingfishers are placed in one family, Alcedinidae, and recent research suggests that this should be divided into three subfamilies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River kingfisher</span> Subfamily of birds

The river kingfishers or pygmy kingfishers, subfamily Alcedininae, are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers. The river kingfishers are widespread through Africa and east and south Asia as far as Australia, with one species, the common kingfisher also appearing in Europe and northern Asia. This group includes many kingfishers that actually dive for fish. The origin of the subfamily is thought to have been in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water kingfisher</span> Subfamily of birds

The water kingfishers or Cerylinae are one of the three subfamilies of kingfishers, and are also known as the cerylid kingfishers. All six American species are in this subfamily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coraciidae</span> Family of birds

Coraciidae is a family of Old World birds, which are known as rollers because of the aerial acrobatics some of these birds perform during courtship or territorial flights. Rollers resemble crows in size and build, and share the colourful appearance of kingfishers and bee-eaters, blues and pinkish or cinnamon browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but not the outer one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grass warbler</span> Genus of birds

The grass warblers are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Locustella. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwanan family, the Locustellidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malachite kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The malachite kingfisher is a river kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is largely resident except for seasonal climate-related movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American green kingfisher</span> Genus of birds

The American green kingfishers are the kingfisher genus Chloroceryle, which are native to tropical Central and South America, with one species extending north to south Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The giant kingfisher is the largest kingfisher in Africa, where it is a resident breeding bird over most of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, other than the arid southwest.

<i>Megaceryle</i> Genus of birds

Megaceryle is a genus of very large kingfishers. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American pygmy kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The American pygmy kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the American tropics from southern Mexico south through Central America into every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay. It also occurs on Trinidad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African pygmy kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The African pygmy kingfisher is a small insectivorous kingfisher found in the Afrotropics, mostly in woodland habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crested kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The crested kingfisher is a very large kingfisher that is native to parts of southern Asia, stretching eastwards from the Indian Subcontinent towards Japan. It forms a species complex with the other three Megaceryle species.

<i>Pelargopsis</i> Genus of birds

Pelargopsis is a genus of tree kingfishers that are resident in tropical south Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green-and-rufous kingfisher</span> Species of bird

The green-and-rufous kingfisher is a species of "water kingfisher" in subfamily Cerylinae of family Alcedinidae. It is found in the American tropics from Nicaragua to Panama and in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilac kingfisher</span> Genus of birds

Lilac kingfishers are kingfishers in the genus Cittura, found in the lowlands of the Indonesia island of Sulawesi and the neighbouring Sangihe and Talaud Islands.

<i>Alcedo</i> Genus of birds

Alcedo is a genus of birds in the kingfisher subfamily Alcedininae. The genus was introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is the common kingfisher. Alcedo is the Latin for "kingfisher".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Príncipe kingfisher</span> Subspecies of bird

The Príncipe kingfisher is a bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the island of Príncipe off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. The first formal description of the species was by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848 who gave it the binomial name Alcedo nais. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 showed that the Príncipe kingfisher is a subspecies of the malachite kingfisher.

<i>Ceyx</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Ceyx is an Old World genus of river kingfishers. These kingfishers are found from South East Asia to the Solomon Islands.

<i>Ispidina</i> Genus of birds

Ispidina is a genus of small insectivorous African river kingfishers.

<i>Taenioptynx</i> Genus of birds

Taenioptynx is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae, that inhabits Asia.

References

  1. 1 2 Andersen, M.J.; McCullough, J.M.; Mauck III, W.M.; Smith, B.T.; Moyle, R.G. (2017). "A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (2): 1–13. doi: 10.1111/jbi.13139 .
  2. Moyle, R.G.; Fuchs, J.; Pasquet, E.; Marks, B.D. (2007). "Feeding behavior, toe count, and the phylogenetic relationships among alcedinine kingfishers (Alcedininae)". Journal of Avian Biology. 38 (3): 317–326. doi:10.1111/J.2007.0908-8857.03921.x.
  3. Kaup, Johann Jakob (1848). "Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae)". Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung (in German). 2: 71–72. OCLC   183221382.
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 175.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2016). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 6.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 September 2016.

Further reading