Western yellow-billed barbet

Western yellow-billed barbet
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Lybiidae
Genus:	Trachylaemus
Species:	T. goffinii
Binomial name
Trachylaemus goffinii (Goffin, 1863)

The western yellow-billed barbet (Trachylaemus goffinii) is a species of bird in the African barbet family Lybiidae that is found from Sierra Leone to southwest Nigeria in West Africa. The species was formerly considered to be conspecific with the eastern yellow-billed barbet.

Taxonomy

The western yellow-billed barbet was formally described in 1863 by the Dutch army officer and ornithologist Andreas Leopold August Goffin (1837–1863) under the binomial name Capito goffinii. The specimens had been collected by Cornelis Nagtglas in the Dutch Gold Coast (now part of Ghana). ^{[2] [a]} The western yellow-billed barbet is now placed with the eastern yellow-billed barbet in the genus Trachylaemus that was introduced in 1891 by the German ornithologist Anton Reichenow. ^[5] This species was formerly considered to be conspecific with the eastern yellow-billed barbet with the common name "yellow-billed barbet". The western yellow-billed barbet is now considered to be a separate species based on the differences in morphology and the deep mitochondrial DNA divergence. ^[5]

Two subspecies are recognised: ^[5]

• T. g. goffinii (Goffin, 1863) – Sierra Leone to Ghana
• T. g. togoensis (Reichenow, 1891) – Togo to southwest Nigeria

Notes

1. Although Goffin lists the species as "Capito goffinii Schlegel, in Mus. Batav.", there is no evidence that Hermann Schlegel was responsible for the description. ^{[3] [4]}

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Trachylaemus goffinii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22725990A94908263.en . Retrieved 18 November 2024.
2. Goffin, Andreas Leopold August (1863). Schlegel, Hermann (ed.). Revue Méthodique et Critique des Collections Déposées dans cet Établissement. Vol. 1: Monograph 15 Buccones. Leiden: Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. p. 72-73.
3. van den Hoek Ostende, L.W.; Dekker, R.W.R.J.; Keijl, G.O. (1997). Type‐specimens of birds in the National Museum of Natural History, Leiden (PDF). Technical Bulletin, 1. Leiden: Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum. p. 200.
4. Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 330. ISBN   978-0-9568611-0-8.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Jacamars, puffbirds, toucans, barbets, honeyguides". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 March 2025.