''Melionyx'' is a genus of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Meliphagidae The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New G ...

. These species were formerly placed in the genus ''

Melidectes ''Melidectes'' is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. All six species are endemism, endemic to New Guinea. The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ''meli'' for honey and ''dektes'' for beggar or receiver. Des ...

''. They were moved to the resurrected genus ''Melionyx '' 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 2019. At the same time the common names were changed from "melidectes" to "honeyeater". The genus contains three species: * Sooty honeyeater (''Melionyx fuscus'') * Short-bearded honeyeater (''Melionyx nouhuysi'') * Long-bearded honeyeater (''Melionyx princeps'')

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Tom Iredale {{Meliphagidae-stub