''Lyncornis'' is a genus of nightjars in the nightjar family Caprimulgidae that are found is South and Southeast Asia. The English name "eared nightjar" refers to the two tufts of feathers on their head.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Lyncornis'' was introduced in 1838 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 ...

with ''Lyncornis cerviniceps'' Gould 1838 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 ...

. This taxon is now treated as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

great eared nightjar The great eared nightjar (''Lyncornis macrotis'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in southwest India and in parts of Southeast Asia. This very large nightjar has long barred wings, a barred tail and long ear-tuft ...

. The genus 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 ...

''lunx'', ''lunkos'' meaning "lynx" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird.

Species

The genus contains two species: These two species were formerly placed in the genus ''

Eurostopodus ''Eurostopodus'' is a genus of eared nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. This genus is distinctive among the Old World nightjars in lacking long rictal bristles. It also shows some features that are not shared with Caprimulginae and Chordeilina ...

''. They were moved to the resurrected genus ''Lyncornis'' based on the results of 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 2010 that found large genetic differences between the great eared nightjar and the other species in ''Eurostopodus''.

References

Bird genera Birds of Southeast Asia {{caprimulgiformes-stub