''Ramphastos'' 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 ...

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ...

s, tropical and subtropical near passerine

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s from Mexico, and Central and South America (with one species occurring in the Caribbean), which are brightly marked and have enormous, often colourful, bills.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.

Taxonomy

The

''Ramphastos'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in the tenth edition of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nom ...

''. The name is from

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 ...

ῥαμφηστης/''rhamphēstēs'' meaning "snouted" (from ῥαμφη/''rhampē'' meaning "bill"). 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( ...

was later designated by

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an 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 on 1785 as fir ...

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 and Araguaia River drainage. It prefers tropica ...

(''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 drai ...

(as ''Ramphastos viridis'') * Ivory-billed aracari (as ''Ramphastos Azara'') *

Black-necked aracari The black-necked aracari or black-necked araçari (''Pteroglossus aracari'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The blac ...

(as ''Ramphastos Aracari'') * Black-necked aracari (atricollis) (as ''Ramphastos atricollis'') * Collared aracari (as ''Ramphastos torquatus'') * Saffron toucanet (as ''Ramphastos Bailloni'')

Description

This genus comprises the largest toucans, ranging from in length. All have black wings, tails and thighs, but the colour of the remaining

plumage Plumage ( "feather") 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, ...

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 or rainbow-billed toucan, is a colorful Latin American member of the toucan family. It is the national bird of Belize. The species is found in tropical jung ...

(''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 The chestnut-mandibled toucan or Swainson's toucan (''Ramphastos ambiguus swainsonii'') is a subspecies of the yellow-throated toucan which breeds from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia to western Ecuador. Taxonomy and systematics The scien ...

(''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 and Araguaia River drainage. It prefers tropica ...

, (''Ramphastos tucanus'') Toco toucan london.jpg, Toco toucan
(''Ramphastos toco'')

Distribution and habitat

They are essentially resident birds, but may take part in minor, local movements (e.g., to lower altitudes in the winter).

Behaviour 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, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose num ...

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 The Ischnocera is a large superfamily of lice. They are mostly parasitic on birds, but including a large family (the Trichodectidae) parasitic on mammals. The genus '' Trichophilopterus'' is also found on mammals (lemurs), but probably belongs ...

louse Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result ...

'' Austrophilopterus cancellosus'' is suspected to

parasitize Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

all species of ''Ramphastos'' toucans. Its presence has been confirmed on all species except the

citron-throated toucan The citron-throated toucan (''Ramphastos citreolaemus'') is a near-passerine bird in the family Ramphastidae, the toucans, toucanets, and aracaris. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The citron-throated toucan is ...

.Price, Roger D. & Weckstein, Jason D. (2005). ''The genus ''Austrophilopterus'' Ewing (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from toucans, toucanets, and araçaris (Piciformes: Ramphastidae).''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view ...

918: 1–18
PDF fulltext
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References

External links

Toucans Bird genera {{Piciformes-stub