Phoenicopterus

Phoenicopterus
Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Phoenicopteriformes
Family:	Phoenicopteridae
Genus:	Phoenicopterus Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Phoenicopterus chilensis Phoenicopterus roseus Phoenicopterus ruber † Phoenicopterus copei † Phoenicopterus floridanus † Phoenicopterus minutus † Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae † Phoenicopterus stocki

Phoenicopterus is a genus of birds in the flamingo family Phoenicopteridae.

Taxonomy

The genus Phoenicopterus was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae to accommodate a single species, the American flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber. ^{[1] [2]} The genus name is Latin for "flamingo". ^[3]

A large bird described from Mauritius and Rodrigues and illustrated by the traveller Francois Leguat in 1708 was speculated to represent a large rail by Hermann Schlegel in 1857 and named Leguatia gigantea, "Leguat's giant", but later research indicates that it was probably based on sightings of Phoenicopterus flamingos that are known to have lived there, possibly the greater flamingo. ^{[4] [5]}

Species

The genus contains three extant species: ^[6]

Genus Phoenicopterus – Linnaeus, 1758 – three species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Greater flamingo	Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811	widespread in Africa and southwest, south-central Eurasia	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
American flamingo	Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus, 1758	northern Galápagos Islands and the Caribbean	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Chilean flamingo	Phoenicopterus chilensis Molina, 1782	central Peru to Tierra del Fuego east to south Brazil, Uruguay and central Argentina	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT

References

1. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 139.
2. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 269.
3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 304. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
4. Hume, J. P. (2017). Extinct Birds (2nd ed.). Croydon: Bloomsbury Natural History. pp. 418–419. ISBN   978-1472937445.
5. Cowles, G. S. (1987). "The fossil record". In Diamond, A. W. (ed.). Studies of Mascarene Island Birds. Cambridge. pp. 90–100. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511735769.004. ISBN   978-0-511-73576-9.
6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Grebes, flamingos". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 August 2021.