The caribs are a genus, ''Eulampis'', of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics ar ...

s in the family Trochilidae. The genus contains two species, both of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the islands of the Caribbean. The genus name comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

word ''eulampēs'' meaning 'bright shining'. Unlike most of the related species of Trochilinae hummingbirds, the caribs lack strong

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

, meaning the males and females are the very similar in appearance.Schuchmann, K.L. & Bonan, A. (2017). Hummingbirds (Trochilidae). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/52268 on 12 March 2017). The only difference between the sexes is that the bill of the female in both species is longer and more decurved.Schuchmann, K.L. & Boesman, P. (2017). Green-throated Carib (''Eulampis holosericeus''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/55412 on 12 March 2017).Schuchmann, K.L. & Boesman, P. (2017). Purple-throated Carib (''Eulampis jugularis''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/55411 on 12 March 2017).

Taxonomy

The genus ''Eulampis'' was introduced in 1831 by the German zoologist

Friedrich Boie Friedrich Boie (4 June 1789 – 3 March 1870) was a German entomologist, herpetologist, ornithologist, and lawyer.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

was subsequently designated as the purple-throated carib. The genus name is from the

''eulampēs'' meaning "bright" or "shining". A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2014 found that ''Eulambis'' was embedded in the genus ''

Anthracothorax The mangos, ''Anthracothorax'', are a genus of hummingbirds in the subfamily Trochilinae native to the Neotropics. The genus ''Anthracothorax'' was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1831. The type species was subsequently des ...

''.

Species list

The genus contains two species:

References

External links

* Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{hummingbird-stub