Ramphastos
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The ''Ramphastos''
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 ...
, also known as toucans, is a genus of brightly colored, tropical birds that are found throughout Central and South America from Southern Mexico to the southern cone of the South American continent. Toucans are typically characterized by their large, colorful bills, which are used for a variety of functions such as
thermoregulation Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...
, feeding, and social signaling.


Taxonomy

The
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 ...
''Ramphastos'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in the tenth edition of his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...
''. The name is from
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 ...
ῥαμφηστης/''rhamphēstēs'' meaning "snouted" (from ῥαμφη/''rhampē'' meaning "bill"). 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 later designated by
Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...
as the
white-throated toucan The white-throated toucan (''Ramphastos tucanus'') is a near-passerine bird in the family Ramphastidae found in South America throughout the Amazon Basin including the adjacent Tocantins River, Tocantins and Araguaia River drainage. It pre ...
(''Ramphastos tucanus'').


Species

The genus contains eight species:


Former species

Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize additional species or subspecies as species belonging to the genus ''Ramphastos'' including: *
Green aracari The green araçari (''Pteroglossus viridis''), is a toucan, a near-passerine bird. It is found in the lowland forests of northeastern South America (the Guiana Shield), in the northeast Amazon Basin, the Guianas and the eastern Orinoco River drain ...
(as ''Ramphastos viridis'') * Ivory-billed aracari (as ''Ramphastos Azara'') * Black-necked aracari (as ''Ramphastos Aracari'') * Black-necked aracari (atricollis) (as ''Ramphastos atricollis'') *
Collared aracari The collared aracari or collared araçari (''Pteroglossus torquatus'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found from Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy The collared aracari was described by the Spanish na ...
(as ''Ramphastos torquatus'') * Saffron toucanet (as ''Ramphastos Bailloni'')


Description

This genus comprises the largest toucans, ranging from in length.Short, L. L., & Horne, J. F. M. (2002). Toucans (Ramphastidae). pp. 220–272 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (2002). ''
Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...
.'' Vol. 7 Jacamars to Woodpecker. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
All have black wings, tails and thighs, but the colour of the remaining
plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...
depends on the exact species involved.


Diversity of bills

Keel-billed toucan, costa rica.jpg,
Keel-billed toucan The keel-billed toucan (''Ramphastos sulfuratus''), also known as sulfur-breasted toucan, keel toucan, or rainbow-billed toucan, is a colorful Latin American member of the toucan family. It is the national bird of National symbols of Belize, Bel ...

(''Ramphastos sulfuratus'') Channel-billed toucan t t.jpg, Channel-billed toucan
(''Ramphastos vitellinus vitellinus'') Ramphastos dicolorus -Brazil-8.jpg, Green-billed toucan (''Ramphastos dicolorus'') Ramphastos swainsonii -back -Buffalo Zoo-8a.jpg, Chestnut-mandibled toucan
(''Ramphastos ambiguus swainsonii'') Red-billed toucan 31l07.JPG,
White-throated toucan The white-throated toucan (''Ramphastos tucanus'') is a near-passerine bird in the family Ramphastidae found in South America throughout the Amazon Basin including the adjacent Tocantins River, Tocantins and Araguaia River drainage. It pre ...
, (''Ramphastos tucanus'') Toco toucan london.jpg,
Toco toucan The toco toucan (''Ramphastos toco'') is a species of bird in the toucan Family (biology), family Ramphastidae. It is the largest species of toucan and has a distinctive appearance, with a black body, a white throat, chest and uppertail-Covert ( ...

(''Ramphastos toco'')


Distribution and habitat

Toucans are found throughout Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. They inhabit a variety of ecosystems, including tropical rainforests, cloud forests, and savannas. Toucans are particularly abundant in the
Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...
, where they play an important ecological role as seed dispersers and predators.


Behavior and ecology


Breeding

They are
arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
and nest in tree holes laying 2–4 white eggs.


Food and feeding

All the species are basically fruit-eating, but will take insects and other small prey.


Threats

The
ischnocera Ischnocera is a large parvorder of lice from the infraorder Phthiraptera. The parvorder consists of Mallophaga, chewing lice, which feed on the feathers and skin debris of birds. Many species of Ischnocera have evolved an elongated body shape. T ...
n
louse Louse (: lice) is the common name for any member of the infraorder Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera was previously recognized as an order (biology), order, until a 2021 genetic stud ...
'' Austrophilopterus cancellosus'' is suspected to parasitize all species of ''Ramphastos'' toucans. Its presence has been confirmed on all species except the citron-throated toucan.


Evolution


Phylogenetics

The
phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
relationships among toucans have been the subject of ongoing debate and research; in the past, the eight toucan species were classified into different subfamilies based on their bill size and shape. However, recent molecular studies have suggested that toucans are more closely related to aracaris and toucanets than previously thought. Several species have also been removed from the ''Ramphastos'' genus:
Green aracari The green araçari (''Pteroglossus viridis''), is a toucan, a near-passerine bird. It is found in the lowland forests of northeastern South America (the Guiana Shield), in the northeast Amazon Basin, the Guianas and the eastern Orinoco River drain ...
, Ivory-billed aracari, Black-necked aracari,
Collared aracari The collared aracari or collared araçari (''Pteroglossus torquatus'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found from Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy The collared aracari was described by the Spanish na ...
, Saffron toucanet. One such study published in the journal ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' in 2015, used molecular data to investigate the phylogenetic relationships among toucans. The researchers sequenced several nuclear and mitochondrial genes from 40 toucan species, representing all recognized subgenera within the genus Ramphastos. The study found that toucans could be divided into six distinct clades, each with different bill morphologies and geographic distributions. The study also suggested that the toucan genus had diversified during the
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
epoch, around 1 million years ago. The Ramphastos genus is divided into two groups which differ in the shape of their bills and their vocalization patterns. These two groups are known colloquially as the “croakers'' and the “yelpers”. The “croakers'' contain the following: ''R. brevis, R. dicolorus, R. sulfuratus, R. toco,'' and ''R. vitellinus''. The “yelper” group contains: ''R. ambiguous'' and ''R. tucanus''. Of these, ''R. brevis'' and ''R. dicolorus'' are polytypic.


History

The evolutionary history of toucans can be traced back to the
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
period, around 50 million years ago, when the first toucan-like bird, known as ''Paratodus'', appeared in Europe. The modern toucan species, however, originated in South America during the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
period, around 23 million years ago.


Transposable Elements

Transposable elements A transposable element (TE), also transposon, or jumping gene, is a type of mobile genetic element, a nucleic acid sequence in DNA that can change its position within a genome. The discovery of mobile genetic elements earned Barbara McClinto ...
are a major source of genetic diversity and can contribute to the evolution of new genes and regulatory elements. Transposable elements have been found in the genomes of all organisms studied so far, including the ''Ramphastos'' genus. One study published in the journal ''Genome Biology'' in 2018, used a combination of genomic and phylogenetic analyses to investigate the role of transposable elements in the evolution of toucans. The researchers sequenced the genome of the green-billed toucan (''Ramphastos dicolorus'') and compared it to the genomes of other bird species. They found that transposable elements were abundant in the toucan genome, making up approximately 19% of the genome. The researchers also identified several families of transposable elements that were specific to toucans, indicating that these elements had played a role in the evolution of the toucan genome. In particular, the researchers identified a family of elements called CR1, which had undergone a burst of activity in the toucan genome. This burst of activity was associated with the expansion and diversification of several gene families that are involved in sensory perception and immune response. The study also found that transposable elements had contributed to the evolution of the toucan bill, which is one of the most distinctive features of toucans. The researchers identified several genes involved in the development of the bill that had been influenced by these elements. In particular, they found that they had inserted into regulatory regions of the genes, altering their expression patterns and contributing to the development of the large and colorful bill.


References


External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q929726 Toucans Bird genera