''Camarhynchus'' 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 birds in the tanager family

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family (biology), family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12 ...

. All species of ''Camarhynchus'' are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

, and together with related genera, they are collectively known as

Darwin's finches Darwin's finches (also known as the Galápagos finches) are a group of about 18 species of passerine birds. They are well known for being a classic example of adaptive radiation and for their remarkable diversity in beak form and function. They ...

. Formerly classified in the bunting and American sparrow family

Emberizidae The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 44 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

, more recent molecular genetic studies have shown it to belong in the tanager family.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus ''Camarhynchus'' was introduced in 1837 by English ornithologist

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

, with the large tree finch as 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 ...

. The name combines the

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

''kamara'' meaning "arch" or "vault" with ''rhunkhos'' meaning "bill". The members of the genus form part of a group collectively known as

. Although traditionally placed with the buntings and

New World sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share th ...

s in the family

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 ...

studies have shown that Darwin's finches are members of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Coerebinae within the tanager family

. The genus contains five species. The

vegetarian finch The vegetarian finch (''Platyspiza crassirostris'') is a species of bird in the Darwin's finch group of the tanager family Thraupidae endemic to the Galápagos Islands. It is the only member of the genus ''Platyspiza.'' Taxonomy The vegetarian f ...

(''Platyspiza crassirostris'') has sometimes been included in this genus.

References

Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by John Gould {{Thraupidae-stub