Piculus is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae that are found in Central and South America.
| Piculus | |
|---|---|
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| Adult male rufous-winged woodpecker (Piculus simplex) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Tribe: | Picini |
| Genus: | Piculus Spix, 1824 |
| Type species | |
| Piculus macrocephalus[1] von Spix, 1824
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| Species | |
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See text | |
Taxonomy edit
The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix in 1824.[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the golden-green woodpecker (Piculus chrysochloros) by the American ornithologist Harry C. Oberholser in 1923.[3] The generic name is a diminutive of the Latin word Picus meaning "woodpecker".[4]
The genus forms part of the woodpecker subfamily Picinae and has a sister relationship to the genus Dryocopus whose species are found in Eurasia and the Americas. The genus Piculus is a member of the tribe Picini and belongs to a clade that contains five genera: Colaptes, Piculus, Mulleripicus, Dryocopus and Celeus.[5]
The genus contains seven species:[6]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| |
Piculus simplex | Rufous-winged woodpecker | Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Formerly considered to be a subspecies of the white-throated woodpecker. |
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Piculus callopterus | Stripe-cheeked woodpecker | Panama. Formerly considered to be a subspecies of the white-throated woodpecker. |
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Piculus litae | Lita woodpecker | western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador |
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Piculus leucolaemus | White-throated woodpecker | The Amazon Basin, Brazil, mainly in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia |
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Piculus flavigula | Yellow-throated woodpecker | Brazil and the entire Amazon Basin; also in the Guianas, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela |
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Piculus chrysochloros | Golden-green woodpecker | The Amazon Basin in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname |
 |
Piculus aurulentus | Yellow-browed woodpecker | Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. |
Five other species, formerly placed here, are now in Colaptes.
References edit
- ^ "Picidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ von Spix, Johann Baptist (1824). Avium species novae, quas in itinere per Brasiliam annis MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX (in Latin). Vol. 1. Monachii [München]: Typis Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni. Index p. 3. The link is to a scan of the 2nd edition published in 1838–1839.
- ^ Oberholser, Harry C. (1923). "Chloronerpes Swainson versus Piculus Spix". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 36: 201–202.
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 306. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Shakya, S.B.; Fuchs, J.; Pons, J.M.; Sheldon, F.H. (2017). "Tapping the woodpecker tree for evolutionary insight". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 116: 182–191. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.005. PMID 28890006.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Woodpeckers". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
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