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Ramphastides
Ramphastides is an infraorder of the order Piciformes that includes toucans and barbets. Formerly, the barbets have been classified in a single family, the Capitonidae. However, this has turned out to be paraphyletic with regard to toucans, which resulted in the Capitonidae being split into several families. Systematics The Ramphastides contain five extant families. Sometimes, they are treated as the superfamily Ramphastoidea.Simpson, S. F., & Cracraft, J. (1981). The phylogenetic relationships of the Piciformes (Class Aves). The Auk, 481-494. *Infraorder Ramphastides ** Megalaimidae - Asian barbets **Lybiidae - African barbets **Capitonidae - New World barbets **Semnornithidae - toucan-barbets **Ramphastidae Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ... - toucans Reference ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pici (taxon)
Pici is one of the two suborders of the order Piciformes and includes two infraorders Ramphastides (toucans and barbets) and Picides (honeyguides and woodpeckers). Members of this suborder are often called "true piciforms", as the jacamars of Galbulidae and puffbirds of Bucconidae (of the other piciform suborder Galbuli) were thought to be not closely related to toucans and woodpeckers, but instead to the order Coraciiformes. Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): ''Phylogeny and classification of birds''. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn. However, analysis of nuclear DNA in a 2003 study placed them as a sister group to the rest of the Piciformes, also showing that the groups had developed zygodactyl In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger". Sometimes the ending "-dactylia" is use ... feet befor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piciformes
Nine families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes , the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives. The Piciformes contain about 71 living genera with a little over 450 species, of which the Picidae (woodpeckers and relatives) make up about half. In general, the Piciformes are insectivorous, although the barbets and toucans mostly eat fruit and the honeyguides are unique among birds in being able to digest beeswax (although insects make up the bulk of their diet). Nearly all Piciformes have parrot-like zygodactyl feet—two toes forward and two back, an arrangement that has obvious advantages for birds that spend much of their time on tree trunks. An exception are a few species of three-toed woodpeckers. The jacamars aside, Piciformes do not have down feathers at any age, only true feathers. They range in size from the rufous piculet at 8 centimetres in length, and weighing 7 grams, to the toco toucan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramphastidae
Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over forty different species. Toucans are arboreal and typically lay 2–4 white eggs in their nests. They make their nests in tree hollows and holes excavated by other animals such as woodpeckers—the toucan bill has very limited use as an excavation tool. When the eggs hatch, the young emerge completely naked, without any down. Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks. They sometimes fence with their bills and wrestle, which scientists hypothesize they do to establish dominance hierarchies. In Africa and Asia, hornbills occupy the toucans' ecological niche, an example of convergent evolution. Taxonomy and systematics The name of this bird group is derived from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toucan
Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over forty different species. Toucans are arboreal and typically lay 2–4 white eggs in their nests. They make their nests in tree hollows and holes excavated by other animals such as woodpeckers—the toucan bill has very limited use as an excavation tool. When the eggs hatch, the young emerge completely naked, without any down. Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks. They sometimes fence with their bills and wrestle, which scientists hypothesize they do to establish dominance hierarchies. In Africa and Asia, hornbills occupy the toucans' ecological niche, an example of convergent evolution. Taxonomy and systematics The name of this bird group is derived from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toco Toucan
The toco toucan (''Ramphastos toco''), also known as the common toucan or giant toucan, is the largest and probably the best known species in the toucan family. It is found in semi-open habitats throughout a large part of central and eastern South America. It is a common attraction in zoos. Taxonomy and systematics German zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller described the toco toucan in 1776. Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized: * ''R. t. toco '' - Statius Müller, 1776: Found in the Guianas, northern and north-eastern Brazil and south-eastern Peru * ''R. t. albogularis'' - Cabanis, 1862: Originally described as a separate species. Found in eastern and southern Brazil, northern Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina Description The toco toucan has conspicuously contrasting plumage with a mainly black body, a white throat, chest and uppertail-coverts, and red undertail-coverts. What appears to be a blue iris is actually thin blue skin around the eye. This blue ski ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Aylward Vigors
Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 1785 as first son from Capt. Nicholas Aylward Vigors which served in 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment and, his first wife, Catherine Vigors, daughter of Solomon Richards of Solsborough. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford on November 1803 before he was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on November 1806. Without completing his studies, he served in the army during the Peninsular War from 1809 to 1811 and wounded in Battle of Barossa on 5 March 1811. Though, he haven't completed his studies yet, he still published "An inquiry into the nature and extent of poetick licence" in London at 1810. He then returned to Oxford to continued his studies and achieved his Bachelor of Arts on 1817 and Master of Arts on 1818. He practiced as a barrister and b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalaimidae
The Asian barbets are a family of bird species, the Megalaimidae, comprising two genera with 35 species native to the forests of the Indomalayan realm from Tibet to Indonesia. They were once clubbed with all barbets in the family Capitonidae but the Old World species have been found to be distinctive and are considered, along with the Lybiidae and Ramphastidae, as sister groups. In the past the species were placed in three genera, ''Caloramphus'', ''Megalaima'' and ''Psilopogon'', but studies show that ''Psilopogon'' to be nested within the clade of ''Megalaima''. Since members of this clade are better treated under a single genus, they have been moved to the genus ''Psilopogon'' which was described and erected earlier than ''Megalaima'' and is therefore chosen on the basis of taxonomic priority principles. Nearly all members of the family are now in the genus ''Psilopogon'', with the exception of those in ''Caloramphus'', which are thought to have genetically diverged from the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lybiidae
The African barbets are birds in the family Lybiidae. There are 43 species ranging from the type genus ''Lybius'' of forest interior to the tinkerbirds (''Pogoniulus'') of forest and scrubland. They are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the far south-west of South Africa. The African terrestrial barbets, Trachyphoninae, range from the southern Sahara to South Africa. Members of one genus, ''Trachyphonus'', are the most open-country species of barbets. The subfamily Lybiinae contains the African arboreal barbets. There are 37 species of Lybiinae in 6 genera. Description and ecology Most African barbets are about long, plump-looking, with large heads, and their heavy bill is fringed with bristles; the tinkerbirds are smaller, ranging down to the red-rumped tinkerbird (''Pogoniulus atroflavus'') at and . They are mainly solitary birds, eating insects and fruit. Figs and numerous other species of fruiting tree and bush are visited. An individual barbet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitonidae
New World barbets are near passerine birds from the family Capitonidae of the order Piciformes, which inhabit humid forests in Central and South America. They are closely related to the toucans. The New World barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. They get their name from the bristles that fringe their heavy bills. Most species are brightly coloured and live in tropical forest. These barbets are mostly arboreal birds, which nest in tree holes dug by breeding pairs, laying two to four eggs. They eat fruit and insects. These birds do not migrate. Ecology While most New World barbet species inhabit lowland forest, some range into montane and temperate forests, as well. Most are restricted to habitats containing trees with dead wood, which are used for nesting. The diet of barbets is mixed, with fruit being the dominant part of the diet. Small prey items are also taken, especially when nesting. Barbets are capable of shifting their diet quickly in the face of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semnornithidae
The toucan-barbets are the small bird genus ''Semnornis''. This was often included in the paraphyletic barbets but recently usually considered a distinct family Semnornithidae; alternatively, all barbets might be moved to the toucan family Ramphastidae as a subfamily, Semnornithinae. It contains only two species, the toucan barbet (''S. ramphastinus'') and the prong-billed barbet (''S. frantzii''). Description The ''Semnornis'' barbets are fairly large barbets, measuring between . The toucan barbet is larger than the prong-billed barbet and considerably heavier. They possess large, swollen bills and lack strong sexual dimorphism in their plumage. The plumage of the prong-billed barbet is orange-brown, and that of the toucan barbet is more distinctively patterned with black, red, grey and gold. Distribution and habitat The ''Semnornis'' toucan-barbets are found in the Neotropics. The prong-billed barbet is restricted to the humid highland forests of Costa Rica and P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraphyletic
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In contrast, a monophyletic group (a clade) includes a common ancestor and ''all'' of its descendants. The terms are commonly used in phylogenetics (a subfield of biology) and in the tree model of historical linguistics. Paraphyletic groups are identified by a combination of synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies. If many subgroups are missing from the named group, it is said to be polyparaphyletic. The term was coined by Willi Hennig to apply to well-known taxa like Reptilia ( reptiles) which, as commonly named and traditionally defined, is paraphyletic with respect to mammals and birds. Reptilia contains the last common ancestor of reptiles and all descendants of that ancestor, including all extant reptiles as well as the extinct synaps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Sibley
Charles Gald Sibley (August 7, 1917 – April 12, 1998) was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern birds. Sibley's taxonomy has been a major influence on the sequences adopted by ornithological organizations, especially the American Ornithologists' Union. Charles Sibley is of no known family relation to renowned bird artist and prolific author of numerous bird identification guides David Sibley. Life and work Educated in California (A.B. 1940; Ph.D. 1948 in Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. Minor fields: Paleontology, Botany), he did his first fieldwork in Mexico in 1939 and 1941, then in Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, and the Philippines during World War II while on leave from the U.S. Navy, in which he was Ensign to Lieutenant in the Communications ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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