''Botaurus'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
bittern
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' and various iterations of ''rared ...
s, a group of wading
birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
in the
heron
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...
family Ardeidae. The genus includes species that were previously placed in the genus ''Ixobrychus''.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Botaurus'' was introduced in 1819 by the English naturalist
James Francis Stephens
James Francis Stephens (16 September 1792 – 22 December 1852) was an England, English entomologist and naturalist. He is known for his 12 volume ''Illustrations of British Entomology'' (1846) and the ''Manual of British Beetles'' (1839).
...
.
Stephens did not specify the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...
but this was designated as ''Ardea stellaris''
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
(
Eurasian bittern) by
George Gray in 1840. The name ''Botaurus'' is
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...
for a bittern. The word combines Latin ''bos'' meaning "oxen" (compare ''butire'' "to boom") and ''taurus'' meaning "bull". In describing the Eurasian bittern Stephens wrote: "At this period the male makes a singular noise, which is compared with the deep bellowing of a bull, and is continued for about two months: ...".
Molecular genetic
Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the str ...
studies found that the genus ''Ixobrychus'' was paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
with respect to ''Botaurus''. To resolve the non-monophyly the genus ''Ixobrychus'' was merged into ''Botaurus'' which has priority.reed bed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and
estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
s. Almost uniquely for predatory birds, the female rears the young alone.
Species
The genus contains 14 species, this includes the New Zealand bittern which is now extinct.[
]
References
*
Bird genera
{{Pelecaniformes-stub