Genus of birds
Melopyrrha is a genus of passerine birds in the tanager family Thraupidae . It is made up of four extant species endemic to the Greater Antilles , along with 1 possibly extinct species from the island of Saint Kitts in the Lesser Antilles .
Taxonomy
The genus Melopyrrha was introduced in 1853 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte .[ 1] The type species was later specified by George Robert Gray as the Cuban bullfinch .[ 2] The name combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" with the genus Pyrrhula introduced by Mathurin Jacques Brisson for the bullfinches.[ 3] This genus was formerly monospecific containing only the Cuban bullfinch.[ 4] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus Loxigilla was polyphyletic and that the Greater Antillean bullfinch , Puerto Rican bullfinch and Cuban bullfinch formed a clade .[ 5] The three species were therefore placed together in Melopyrrha .[ 6] In 2021, the possibly extinct St. Kitts bullfinch (M. grandis ) was split from M. portoricensis as a distinct species.[ 7]
Although these species were traditionally placed with the buntings and New World sparrows in the family Emberizidae ,[ 4] molecular genetic studies have shown that they are members of the tanager family Thraupidae and belong to the subfamily Coerebinae that also contains Darwin's finches .[ 5]
Species
The five species in the genus are:[ 6]
References
^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1853). "Notes sur les collections rapportées en 1853, par M. A. Delattre, de son voyage en Californie et dans le Nicaragua: Troisième communication - Passereux Conirostres" . Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 37 : 913–925 [924].
^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum . London: British Museum. p. 82.
^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
^ a b Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World . Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 151.
^ a b Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 75 : 41–77. Bibcode :2014MolPE..75...41B . doi :10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006 . PMID 24583021 .
^ a b Gill, Frank ; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela , eds. (July 2020). "Tanagers and allies" . IOC World Bird List Version 10.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 November 2020 .
^ "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List" . Retrieved 2021-07-29 .