Chrysophlegma 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 woodpeckers family

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. ...

. These species, found in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, were all previously assigned to the genus ''

Picus Picus was a figure in Roman mythology, the first king of Latium. He was the son of Saturn (mythology), Saturn, also known as Stercutus. He was the founder of the first Latin tribe and settlement, Laurentum, located a few miles to the Southeast o ...

''.

Taxonomy

The species now placed in ''Chrysophlegma'' were previously assigned to the genus ''

''. A

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 ...

study published in 2008 found that the genus ''Picus'', as then defined, formed two separate

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s and might not be

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. Three species were therefore moved from ''Picus'' into the resurrected genus ''Chrysophlegma'', which had been introduced in 1850 by the 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 ...

to accommodate the

greater yellownape The greater yellownape (''Chrysophlegma flavinucha'') is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in East Asia from northern and eastern India to south-eastern China, Indochina, Hainan, and Sumatra. Its natural habitats ar ...

(''Chrysophlegma flavinucha''). The genus name combines the

Classical 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 Archa ...

''khrusos'' meaning "gold" and ''phlegma'' meaning "flame" or "fire". The genus contains 3 species.

References

Bird genera Birds of Southeast Asia {{woodpecker-stub