''Chloropicus'' 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 woodpecker

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Picidae Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. ...

that are native to

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe in 1845 with the fire-bellied woodpecker (''Chloropicus pyrrhogaster'') 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 word ''Chloropicus'' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''khlōros'' meaning green and ''pikos'' meaning woodpecker. Molecular genetic studies have shown that the genus ''Chloropicus'' is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

to the genus ''

Dendropicos ''Dendropicos'' is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the Sub-Saharan Africa, sub-Saharan woodlands and forests. Taxonomy The genus ''Dendropicos'' was introduced by the French ornithologi ...

''. Species in this genus were previously sometimes assigned to ''

''. The genus contains the three species:

References

Bird genera Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxa named by Alfred Malherbe {{woodpecker-stub