Ailuroedus

Ailuroedus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Ptilonorhynchidae
Genus:
Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Ptilonorhynchus smithii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827=Lanius crassirostris Paykull, 1815
Species

see text

Ailuroedus is a genus of birds in the bowerbird family, Ptilonorhynchidae, native to forests in Australia and New Guinea. The common name, catbird, refers to these species' "wailing cat-like calls".[1] The scientific name Ailuroedus is derived from the Greek 'ailouros', meaning cat, and 'eidos', referring to form (or perhaps from oaidos, singer).

Taxonomy

The genus Ailuroedus was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis to accommodate a single species, Ptilonorhynchus smithii Vigors and Horsfield.[2] This is a junior synonym of Lanius crassirostris Paykull, 1815, the green catbird.[3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek αιλουρος/ailouros meaning "cat" with αοιδος/aoidos or ωδος/ōdos meaning "singer".[4]

Traditionally, the Ailuroedus catbirds were classified as three species. However, a 2015 phylogenetic and morphological article by Martin Irestedt and collaborators revealed seven new species, leading to a total of ten distinct species.[5] In the same study, the results confirmed that the catbirds are divided into two major clades, a lowland group consisting of the New Guinean white-eared catbird, and a mid-mountain clade including the black-eared catbird and the Australian green catbird.[5]

Species

The genus contains ten species:[6]

Description

Catbirds are characterize by ivory-colored bill with the hooked maxilla, large head, green dorsal plumage, ventral spotting, powerful grasping claws and fig-eating habit.[7]

In contrast to the other genera within the Ptilonorhynchidae family, all of the Ailuroedus catbirds lack marked sexual dimorphism, are pair bonded, monogamous breeders, with both parents caring for the offspring.[1][8] They form pair bonds in which the male helps to build the nest, and have simple arboreal chasing displays, without bowers or stages.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Rowland, Peter (2008). Bowerbirds. CSIRO Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-643-09420-8. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  2. ^ Cabanis, Jean (1850–1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 213, footnote. For the publication date of volume 1 see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
  3. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 172.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. "Ailuroedus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  5. ^ a b Irestedt, M.; Batalha-Filho, H.; Roselaar, C.S.; Christidis, L.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2016). "Contrasting phylogeographic signatures in two Australo-Papuan bowerbird species complexes (Aves: Ailuroedus)". Zoologica Scripta. 45 (4): 365–379. doi:10.1111/zsc.12163.
  6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian treecreepers, Australasian wrens". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  7. ^ Beehler, Bruce McPherson; Pratt, Thane K. (2016). Birds of New Guinea: distribution, taxonomy, and systematics. Princeton (N.J.): Princeton university press. ISBN 978-0-691-16424-3.
  8. ^ a b Gregory, Phil (2020). Birds of Paradise and Bowerbirds: An Identification Guide. Princeton University Press. p. 323. ISBN 9780691202143.
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