''Peucaea'' 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 ...

American sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share th ...

s. The species in this genus used to be included in the genus ''

Aimophila ''Aimophila'' is a genus of American sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have di ...

''.

Taxonomy and species

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 2009 found that the genus ''

'' was

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 ...

. In the resulting reorganization 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, eight species were moved from ''

'' to the resurrected genus ''Peucaea''. ''Peucaea'' had been introduced by the Franco-American ornithologist

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...

in 1839. The genus name is 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 ...

''peukē'' meaning "pine-tree". 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 ...

was designated by English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...

in 1841 as ''Fringilla bachmani'', a taxon now considered to be a subspecies of Bachman's sparrow with the

trinomial name In biology, trinomial nomenclature is the system of names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany. In zoology In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or t ...

''Peucaea aestivalis bachmani''. ''Peucaea'' is the

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

genus to '' Ammodramus'' within the family

Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share th ...

. The genus contains the following 8 species: * Rufous-winged sparrow, ''Peucaea carpalis'' * Cinnamon-tailed sparrow, ''Peucaea sumichrasti'' * Stripe-headed sparrow, ''Peucaea ruficauda'' * Black-chested sparrow, ''Peucaea humeralis'' *

Bridled sparrow The bridled sparrow (''Peucaea mystacalis'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. The species are brown Brown is a color. It can ...

, ''Peucaea mystacalis'' * Botteri's sparrow, ''Peucaea botterii'' *

Cassin's sparrow Cassin's sparrow (''Peucaea cassinii'') is a medium-sized sparrow. This passerine bird's range is from western Nebraska to north-central Mexico. Taxonomy The first Cassin's sparrow was described in 1852 by Samuel W. Woodhouse from a specimen ...

, ''Peucaea cassinii'' * Bachman's sparrow, ''Peucaea aestivalis''

Notes

References

{{Authority control Bird genera American sparrows Taxa named by John James Audubon