From en.wikipedia.org:
[Genus of birds] [Italic title] {{Automatic taxobox | name = _Colius_ | image
= Colius striatus1.jpg | image_caption = Speckled mousebird, _Colius striatus_
| taxon = Colius | authority = Brisson, 1760 | type_species = _Loxia colius_ |
type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766 | subdivision_ranks = Species |
subdivision = _Colius colius_<br /> _Colius castanotus_<br /> _Colius
leucocephalus_<br /> _Colius striatus_ }}
_COLIUS_ is a genus of mousebirds in the family Coliidae. The four species
are widely distributed in Africa. Two other African mousebirds are placed in
the genus _Urocolius_.
The genus _Colius_ was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques
Brisson in 1760 with the white-backed mousebird (_Colius colius_) as the type
species.[1][2]
The genus contains the following four species:<ref name=ioc>[
editor1-last=Gill ]
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common Name !!
Distribution |- |120px || _Colius colius_ || White-backed mousebird ||
southern Africa from Namibia and southern Botswana eastwards to Central
Transvaal and the eastern Cape |- | frameless|| _Colius castanotus_ ||
Red-backed mousebird || Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo |-
|120px || _Colius leucocephalus_ || White-headed mousebird || southern Somalia
and parts of Kenya with its range just extending into southern Ethiopia and
northern Tanzania |- |120px || _Colius striatus_ || Speckled mousebird ||
Cameroon east to Eritrea and Ethiopia, south through eastern Africa to
southern South Africa |- |}
A fossil species, _Colius hendeyi_, was described from Early Pliocene remains
found at Langebaanweg in South Africa.
Some Miocene taxa from France were previously assigned to _Colius_. Of these,
only the Middle Miocene _"Colius" palustris_ might plausibly belong there,<ref
name = Mlíkovský2002>Mlíkovský (2002) but it is more often separated in
_Necrornis_. In younger lineages like Passeriformes, extant genera (e.g.
_Menura_ and _Orthonyx_) were around by then, though simply because two taxa
are of same taxonomic rank, they do not need to be of the same age. All that
can be said is that while it cannot be ruled out that the modern genus
_Colius_ was around in Miocene Europe, it more likely evolved later, and
probably in sub-Saharan Africa.
_"Colius" archiaci_, _"C." consobrinus_ and _"C." paludicola_ on the other
hand are 3 taxa described from fragmentary remains found at
Saint-Gérand-le-Puy. Their taxonomic history is convoluted, being initially
described as woodpeckers and variously merged and split. Today it is believed
that they might all belong to a species in the modern genus _Urocolius_, or at
least 2 into a prehistoric genus _Limnatornis_.<ref name = Mlíkovský2002 />
** Footnotes
[Reflist]
** References
- Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): _Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe_ . Ninox Press, Prague. <small> [80-901105-3-8] </small> PDF fulltext (see https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf) < !-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 -->
[Mousebirds] [C.] [from=Q249433] [Authority control]
Category:Coliiformes Category:Bird genera Category:Taxonomy articles created
by Polbot
[Coliiformes-stub]