Mellisugini is one of the three

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

that make up the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Trochilinae Trochilinae is one of the six subfamily, subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into three Tribe (biology), tribes: Lampornithini (mountain gems) containing 18 species, Mellisugini ...

in the hummingbird

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Trochilidae Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

. The other two tribes in the subfamily are

Lampornithini Lampornithini is one of the three Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Trochilinae in the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other two tribes in the subfamily are Mellisugini (bees) and Trochilini (emeralds). The ...

(mountain gems) and

Trochilini Trochilini is one of the three Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Trochilinae in the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other two tribes in the subfamily are Lampornithini (mountain gems) and Mellisugini (bees). ...

(emeralds). The informal name "bees" has been proposed for this group as it includes the tiny

bee hummingbird The bee hummingbird, zunzuncito or Helena hummingbird (''Mellisuga helenae'') is a species of hummingbird, native to the island of Cuba in the Caribbean. It is the smallest known bird. The bee hummingbird feeds on nectar of flowers and bugs foun ...

(''Mellisuga helenae'') that is endemic to Cuba. The tribe contains 37 species divided into 16 genera.

Phylogeny

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 of the hummingbirds published in 2007 found that the family was composed of nine major

clades In biology, a clade (), also known as a 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 to taxonomy ...

. When Edward Dickinson and James Van Remsen, Jr. updated the '' Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World'' for the 4th edition in 2013 they based their classification on these results and placed three of the nine clades in the

. The clades were placed in separate

which they named Mellisugini (bees),

(mountain gems) and

(emeralds). The tribe Mellisugini with the current circumscription was introduced in 2009. A subfamily Mellisuginae had been introduced by the German naturalist

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist, ornithologist and illustrator. It was he who first requested Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate m ...

in 1854.

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 by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published between 2007 and 2014 determined the relationships between the major groups of hummingbirds. In the

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

below the English names are those introduced in 1997. The Latin names are those proposed by Dickinson and Remsen in 2013. The cladogram below shows the relationships between the genera and is based on a

study by Yuyini Licona-Vera and Juan Francisco Ornelas published in 2017. The results are in agreement with the phylogeny by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published in 2014. The genus ''Calliphlox'' was found to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. As part of the revised classification to create

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 ...

genera, the Bahama woodstar and the Inagua woodstar were moved to the resurrected genus '' Nesophlox''. Later, the genus '' Philodice'' was resurrected to accommodate the purple-throated woodstar and the amethyst woodstar. The genus ''Atthis'' containing the wine-throated hummingbird and the bumblebee hummingbird was embedded within '' Selasphorus''. The genera were therefore merged and as under the rules of the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

''Selasphorus'' has priory over ''Atthis'' the two species were moved to ''Selasphorus''.

Distinguishing features

The males of most species in the tribe Mellisugini have specialized tail feathers that produce sounds during their courtship display. This is not restricted to this tribe as males in the genus '' Discosura'' belonging to the tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for th ...

(coquettes) can also produce sounds from their tail feathers. Most of the migratory hummingbirds are found in this tribe. Remarkable examples are the rufous hummingbird (''Selasphorus rufus'') that breeds as far north as western Canada and Alaska and overwinters in Mexico and the ruby-throated hummingbird (''Archilochus colubris'') that breeds in the eastern United States and then crosses the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

to winter in Mexico and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. There are five other long-distance migrants in the tribe: the broad-tailed hummingbird (''Selasphorus platycercus''), the calliope hummingbird (''Selasphorus calliope''), Allen's hummingbird (''Selasphorus sasin''), the black-chinned hummingbird (''Archilochus alexandri'') and the lucifer sheartail (''Calothorax lucifer''). It is likely that migratory behaviour has evolved several times.

Taxonomic list

The tribe contains 17 genera.

References

Sources

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q105082007 * Bird tribes