''Actophilornis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of jacana. It contains two species restricted to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and its surrounding islands.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Actophilornis'' was introduced in 1925 by the American ornithologist

Harry C. Oberholser Harry Church Oberholser (June 25, 1870 – December 25, 1963) was an American ornithologist. Biography Harry Oberholser was born to Jacob and Lavera S. Oberholser on June 25, 1870, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Columbia University, but did ...

with the

African jacana The African jacana (''Actophilornis africanus'') is a wader in the family Jacanidae. It has long toes and long claws that enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, its preferred habitat. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan A ...

as 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 specime ...

. ''Actophilornis'' was a replacement name for ''Actophilus'' which was pre-occupied. The name combines 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 ...

''aktē'' meaning "river bank" or "coastal strand", ''-philos'' meaning "-loving" and ''ornis'' meaning "bird". The genus contains two species: *

, ''Actophilornis africanus'' *

Madagascar jacana The Madagascar jacana (''Actophilornis albinucha'') is a species of bird in the family Jacanidae. It is endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links= ...

, ''Actophilornis albinucha''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q482057 Bird genera Taxa named by Harry C. Oberholser