Coracias
Adult European roller
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Coraciidae
Genus: Coracias
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Coracias garrulus (European roller)
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

9, see text

Synonyms
  • Galgulus Brisson, 1760

Coracias is a genus of the rollers, an Old World family of near passerine birds related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. They share the colourful appearance of those groups, blues and browns predominating. The two outer front toes are connected, but not the inner one.

Taxonomy

The genus Coracias was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.[1] The genus name is from Ancient Greek korakías (κορακίας),[2] derived from korax (κόραξ, ‘raven, crow’).[3] Aristotle described the coracias as a bird as big as a crow with a red beak,[4] which some believe to be the chough.[5] The type species was designated as the European roller (Coracias garrulus) by George Robert Gray in 1855.[6][7]

The phylogenetic relationships among the species were determined in a molecular study published in 2018.[8]

Coracias

Blue-bellied roller – C. cyanogaster

Purple roller – C. naevius

Racket-tailed roller – C. spatulatus

Lilac-breasted roller – C. caudatus

Abyssinian roller – C. abyssinicus

European roller – C. garrulus

Indian roller – C. benghalensis

Indochinese roller – C. affinis

Purple-winged roller – C. temminckii

Species

Nine species are recognized:[9]

Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution
Purple roller Coracias naevius sub-Saharan Africa
Indian roller Coracias benghalensis Western Asia to Indian Subcontinent
Indochinese roller Coracias affinis eastern India to southeast Asia
Purple-winged roller Coracias temminckii Islands of Sulawesi, Bangka, Lembeh, Manterawu, Muna and Butung.
Racket-tailed roller Coracias spatulatus southern Africa from Angola, south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Tanzania to northern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique
Lilac-breasted roller Coracias caudatus sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula
Abyssinian roller Coracias abyssinicus tropical Africa in a belt south of the Sahara, known as the Sahel
European roller Coracias garrulus Middle East, Central Asia, Mediterranean and eastern Europe.
Blue-bellied roller Coracias cyanogaster Senegal to northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Coracias:

Behaviour and ecology

Coracias rollers are watch-and wait hunters. They sit in a tree or on a post before descending on their prey and carrying it back in the beak to a perch before dismembering it. A wide range of terrestrial invertebrates, and small vertebrates such as frogs, lizards rodents and young birds, are taken. Their prey includes items avoided by many other birds, such as hairy caterpillars, insects with warning colouration and snakes.[17] They often perch prominently whilst hunting, like giant shrikes.

References

  1. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 107.
  2. ^ André Jean François Marie Brochant de Villers; Alexandre Brongniart; Pierre Jean François Turpin (1818). Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles (in French). Levrault. p. 349.
  3. ^ Craig, J. (1854). A New Universal, Technological, Etymological, and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language. p. 407.
  4. ^ Camus, A.-G. (1783). Histoire des animaux d'Aristote (in French). Chez la veuve Desaint. p. 225.
  5. ^ Greek Word Study Tool
  6. ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 13.
  7. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 241.
  8. ^ Johansson, U. S.; Irestedt, M.; Qu, Y.; Ericson, P. G. P. (2018). "Phylogenetic relationships of rollers (Coraciidae) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and fifteen nuclear genes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 126: 17–22. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.030. PMID 29631051. S2CID 5011292.
  9. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Rollers, ground rollers, kingfishers". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Oriolus sagittatus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  11. ^ "Oriolus oriolus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  12. ^ "Oriolus xanthornus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  13. ^ "Eurystomus glaucurus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  14. ^ "Eurystomus glaucurus afer - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  15. ^ "Eurystomus orientalis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  16. ^ "Eurystomus orientalis pacificus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  17. ^ Fry, C. H.; Fry, K. (30 June 2010). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-1408134573. OCLC 25547477.

External links

Genera of trogons, hornbills, kingfishers, woodpeckers and their extinct allies
Taxon identifiers
Authority control databases: National
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