''Meliphaga'' 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 honeyeater family

Meliphagidae The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are m ...

. The genus was introduced by the English artist

John Lewin John William Lewin (1770 – 27 August 1819) was an English-born artist active in Australia from 1800. The first professional artist of the colony of New South Wales, he illustrated the earliest volumes of Australian natural history. Many of his ...

in 1808. The name ''Meliphaga'' 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 ...

meaning "honey" and meaning eating. 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 ...

is Lewin's honeyeater (''Meliphaga lewinii''). The genus contains three species: * Puff-backed honeyeater (''Meliphaga aruensis'') * Yellow-spotted honeyeater (''Meliphaga notata'') *

Lewin's honeyeater Lewin's honeyeater (''Meliphaga lewinii'') is a bird that inhabits the ranges along the east coast of Australia. It has a semicircular ear-patch, pale yellow in colour. The name of this bird commemorates the Australian artist John Lewin. Another ...

(''Meliphaga lewinii'') The genus formerly included additional species. When

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 ...

studies found that ''Meliphaga'' contained two distinct clades, the genus was split and most of the species were moved to the resurrected genus '' Microptilotis'' leaving just three species in ''Meliphaga''.

References

Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Meliphagidae-stub