''Phrygilus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of mainly

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

seed-eating

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotrop ...

s commonly known as sierra finches. Phrygilos means finch in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

. Traditionally classified in the bunting and American sparrow family

Emberizidae The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

, more recent studies have shown them to belong in the

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotrop ...

Taxonomy and species list

The genus ''Phrygilus'' was introduced in 1844 by the German ornithologist

Jean Cabanis Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. Cabanis was born in Berlin to an old Huguenot family who had moved from France. Little is known of his early life. He studied at the University of Berlin from 183 ...

with the

grey-hooded sierra finch The grey-hooded sierra finch (''Phrygilus gayi'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Argentina and Chile where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or ...

as the

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

. The name is from the

''phrugilos'', an unidentified bird mentioned by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...

. The genus formerly included additional species. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus was highly

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

and in the resulting reorganization members of the genus were moved to ''

Geospizopsis ''Geospizopsis'' is a genus of seed-eating birds in the tanager family Thraupidae that are commonly known as sierra finches. Taxonomy and species list The two species now placed in ''Geospizopsis'' were formerly placed in the genus '' Phrygilus ...

'', '' Rhopospina'', ''

Porphyrospiza ''Porphyrospiza'' is a genus of seed-eating South American birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. Taxonomy and species list The genus ''Porphyrospiza'' was introduced in 1873 by the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin to acc ...

'' and ''

Idiopsar ''Idiopsar'' is a genus of Neotropical seed-eating birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. Taxonomy and species list The genus ''Idiopsar'' was introduced in 1867 by the American ornithologist John Cassin to accommodate the newly described boul ...

''. The genus now contains four species.

References

Bird genera {{Thraupidae-stub