''Caloenas'' 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 n ...

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s. The only living

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

is the

Nicobar pigeon The Nicobar pigeon (''Caloenas nicobarica'', Car: ') is a bird found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member ...

(''C. nicobarica''). One or two extinct species are known: the Kanaka pigeon was a large species from New Caledonia and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. It is only known by subfossil remains and was probably hunted to extinction by the early settlers. The

spotted green pigeon The spotted green pigeon or Liverpool pigeon (''Caloenas maculata'') is a species of pigeon which is most likely extinct. It was first mentioned and described in 1783 by John Latham, who had seen two specimens of unknown provenance and a drawi ...

, another extinct species from an unknown locality, has only a slight similarity to the

due to its neck feathers.

Ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Joseph H. Acklen – US *Humayun Ab ...

place it in this

, but there is not a unanimous agreement. One surviving specimen exists in the

Liverpool Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Caloenas'' was introduced by the English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger broth ...

in 1840 to accommodate the

. The genus 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 ...

''kalos'' meaning "beautiful" with ''oinas'' meaning "dove". The genus contains two species: *

(''Caloenas nicobarica'') * †

Spotted green pigeon The spotted green pigeon or Liverpool pigeon (''Caloenas maculata'') is a species of pigeon which is most likely extinct. It was first mentioned and described in 1783 by John Latham, who had seen two specimens of unknown provenance and a drawi ...

(''Caloenas maculata'') Sometimes included in the genus is a species that probably became extinct 2,500 years ago: * † Kanaka pigeon (''Caloenas canacorum'') Balouet & Olson, 1989

References

* Bird genera Bird genera with one living species Taxa named by George Robert Gray {{Columbiformes-stub