''Automolus'' is a genus of bird in the ovenbird family
Furnariidae.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Automolus'' was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist
Ludwig Reichenbach
Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. It was he who first requested Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate models for scientific education and museu ...
to accommodate the taxon ''Sphenura sulphurascens''
Lichtenstein, now treated as a
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the
white-eyed foliage-gleaner. The name is 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 peri ...
''automolos'' meaning "deserter".
Species
The genus contains 11 species:
*
Chestnut-crowned foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus rufipileatus''
*
Brown-rumped foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus melanopezus''
*
Ochre-throated foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus ochrolaemus''
*
Fawn-throated foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus cervinigularis''
*
Chiriqui foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus exsertus'' – split from buff-throated foliage-gleaner
*
Eastern woodhaunter, ''Automolus subulatus'' – formerly in ''Hyloctistes'' (previously striped woodhaunter)
*
Western woodhaunter, ''Automolus virgatus'' – split from eastern woodhaunter
*
Olive-backed foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus infuscatus''
*
Para foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus paraensis''
*
Pernambuco foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus lammi'' – split from white-eyed foliage-gleaner
*
White-eyed foliage-gleaner, ''Automolus leucophthalmus''
The
tepui foliage-gleaner has been placed in this genus, but behavior, voice, and
morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
*Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
*Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
all point to it belonging in ''
Syndactyla'',
[Zimmer, K. J., Robbins, M. B., & Kopuchiam, C. (2008). ''Taxonomy, vocalisations, syringeal morphology and natural history of Automolus roraimae (Furnariidae).'' Bulletin B.O.U. 128: 187–206.] and molecular data confirmed this hypothesis.
The
eastern woodhaunter was formerly placed in its own genus ''
Hyloctistes'' but molecular evidence showed that it was nested in ''Automolus''.
The
ruddy foliage-gleaner
The ruddy foliage-gleaner (''Clibanornis rubiginosus'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. Its range is highly disjunct, with populations in the highlands of Mexico and Central America, and lowlands and foothills in the Chocó, ea ...
and the
Santa Marta foliage-gleaner, formerly placed in ''Automolus'', are actually more closely related to ''
Clibanornis
''Clibanornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Furnariidae. Formerly, it contained only the Canebrake groundcreeper but phylogenetic studies revealed that this species is closely related to other four species formerly placed in '' Automolus ...
'' foliage-gleaners.
[
]
References
Bird genera
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach
{{Furnariidae-stub