''Xenicus'' is a genus of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s in the family ''

Acanthisittidae The New Zealand wrens are a family (Acanthisittidae) of tiny passerines endemic to New Zealand. They were represented by seven Holocene species in four or five genera, although only two species in two genera survive today. They are understood to ...

''. It contains New Zealand wrens.

Species

New Zealand rock wren The New Zealand rock wren (''Xenicus gilviventris'') is a small New Zealand wren (family (biology), family Acanthisittidae) Endemism, endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Its Māori language, Māori names include ("little complaining b ...

, ''Xenicus gilviventris'' *

Bushwren The bushwren (''Xenicus longipes''), also known as the in the Māori language, is an extinct species of diminutive and nearly flightless bird that was endemic to New Zealand. It had three subspecies on each of the major islands of New Zealand, ...

, †''Xenicus longipes'' (extinct) *

South Island stout-legged wren Stout-legged wren is a common name referring to two species of extinct New Zealand wrens: the North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren (''Xenicus jagmi''), and the South Island stout-legged wren or Yaldwyn's wren (''Xenicus yaldwyni ...

, †''Xenicus yaldwyni'' (extinct) –

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, New Zealand *

North Island stout-legged wren Stout-legged wren is a common name referring to two species of extinct New Zealand wrens: the North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren (''Xenicus jagmi''), and the South Island stout-legged wren or Yaldwyn's wren (''Xenicus yaldwyni ...

, †''Xenicus jagmi'' (extinct) –

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

, New Zealand

Lyall's wren Lyall's wren or the Stephens Island wren (''Traversia lyalli'') was a small, flightless passerine belonging to the family Acanthisittidae, the New Zealand wrens. Now extinct, it was once found throughout New Zealand, but when it came to the a ...

was classified as ''Xenicus lyalli'' but is quite divergent, so it is placed in its own genus, ''Traversia''.

Taxonomy

The stout-legged wrens formed a

species pair In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. They had reduced wings and robust legs indicating that they were adapted to a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

existence and were either

flightless Flightless birds are birds that cannot fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites ( ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwis) and penguins. The smal ...

or nearly so.Millener (1988). Genetic evidence has indicated that the former genus ''Pachyplichas'' is nested within ''Xenicus,'' and stout-legged wrens must have evolved from a gracile-legged ancestor. A cladogram is given below.''''

References

*''Catalogue of the genera and subgenera of birds contained in the British museum''. p. 31
North Island Rifleman (Titipounamu)(above two birds) / South Island Bush Wren (Matuhi) (left centre) / Rock Wren (centre right) / Stephens Island Wren
by

George Edward Lodge George Edward Lodge FZS, (3 December 1860 – 5 February 1954)Savory ''op. cit.'' was a British illustrator of birds and an authority on falconry. Early life George Edward Lodge was born at Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire. His father, Samuel Lo ...

. Collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Species

Taxonomy

References

Further reading