''Nyctiphrynus'' is a genus of birds in the nightjar family Caprimulgidae that are found in Middle and South America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Nyctiphrynus'' was introduced in 1847 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 ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

. He listed three species in the genus but did not specify 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 ...

. In 1914 Harry C. Oberholser designated ''Caprimulgus ocellatus'' Tschudi, 1844, the ocellated poorwill, as the type. The genus name ''Nyctiphrynus'' is derived from 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 ...

νυκτι-/''nukti-'' meaning "night-" or "nocturnal" and φρυνη/''phrunē'' meaning "toad". The genus contains the following four species: *

Eared poorwill The eared poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus mcleodii'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Taxonomy and systematics The eared poorwill has sometimes been placed in genus ''Otophanes''. Two subspecies, the n ...

(''Nyctiphrynus mcleodii'') * Ocellated poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus ocellatus'') * Chocó poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus rosenbergi'') *

Yucatan poorwill The Yucatan poorwill (''Nyctiphrynus yucatanicus'') is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in the Yucatán Peninsula of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. Taxonomy and systematics The Yucatan poorwill has sometimes been ...

(''Nyctiphrynus yucatanicus'')

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{caprimulgiformes-stub