''Chrysuronia'' 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 ...
of hummingbirds in the family
Trochilidae
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics ar ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Chrysuronia'' was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte.
Life and career
...
. Bonaparte did not specify a
type species
In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen( ...
but this was designated as the
golden-tailed sapphire in 1855 by
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 ...
. The genus name is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[synonyms
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are ...](_blank)
of the golden-tailed sapphire: ''Ornismya chrysura''
Lesson, R, 1832 and ''Ornismia oenone'' Lesson, 1832.
This genus formerly included only a single species, the golden-tailed sapphire. 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 2014 found that the genera ''
Amazilia
''Amazilia'' is a hummingbird genus in the subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in tropical Central and South America.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Amazilia'' was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson. Lesson had used ''amazilia'' ...
'' and ''Lepidopyga'' were
polyphyletic
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...
. In the revised classification to create
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic ...
genera, ''Chrysuronia'' was broadened to include species that had previous been placed in ''Amazilia'', ''
Hylocharis
''Hylocharis'' is a genus of hummingbirds, in the family Trochilidae. It contains two species that are both found in South America.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Hylocharis'' was introduced in 1831 by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie. The type speci ...
'' and ''Lepidopyga''.
References
Bird genera
Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Taxa described in 1850
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