Touit is a genus of Neotropical parrots in the family Psittacidae.

Touit
Brown-backed parrotlet, Touit melanonotus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Genus: Touit
G.R. Gray, 1855
Type species
Psittacus huetii[1]
Temminck, 1830
Species

see text

The genus was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855 with the scarlet-shouldered parrotlet (Touit huetii) as the type species.[2] The genus name is derived from the extinct Tupi language that was spoken by native people in Brazil: Tuí eté means "really little parrot".[3] In 1648 the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave used Tuiete for a small parrot in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae.[4]

The genus contains the following eight species:[5]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Touit batavicus Lilac-tailed parrotlet Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela
Touit huetii Scarlet-shouldered parrotlet Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela
Touit costaricensis Red-fronted parrotlet Central America in Costa Rica and Panama
Touit dilectissimus Blue-fronted parrotlet or red-winged parrotlet coastal Andes to Peru
Touit purpuratus Sapphire-rumped parrotlet Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Touit melanonotus Brown-backed parrotlet south-eastern Brazil from Bahia to southern São Paulo
Touit surdus Golden-tailed parrotlet eastern Brazil.
Touit stictopterus Spot-winged parrotlet Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

References edit

  1. ^ "Psittacidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  2. ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 89.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 388. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Marcgrave, Georg (1648). Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (in Latin). Vol. Liber Quintus: Qui agit de Avibus. Lugdun and Batavorum (London and Leiden): Franciscum Hackium and Elzevirium. p. 206.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Parrots, cockatoos". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 August 2019.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Touit at Wikimedia Commons