Erythropitta
Black-crowned pitta, Erythropitta ussheri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pittidae
Genus: Erythropitta
Bonaparte, 1854
Species

See text.

Black-crowned pitta (E. ussheri) uttering whistles from a perch in Danum Valley, Sabah

Erythropitta is a genus of pitta. The members of the genus are found mostly in South-east Asia, with one species, the Papuan pitta, ranging into northeast Australia. The genus was formerly merged with the large genus Pitta, but a 2006 study split the family into three genera.

Taxonomy

The pittas were at one time all usually placed in the genus Pitta, the only genus in the family Pittidae, but when a 2006 molecular phylogenetic study found that the pittas formed three separate groups, the genus was split and some species were moved into two resurrected genera, Erythropitta and Hydrornis.[1] The genus Erythropitta had been introduced in 1854 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the Papuan pitta (Erythropitta macklotii).[3] The name Erythropitta combines the Ancient Greek word eruthros "red" with the genus name Pitta.[4]

Pittas in this genus have red or crimson coloured underparts, greenish or blueish backs and short tails. They are mostly small in size.[1]

Species

The genus contains the following 15-17 species:[5]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Erythropitta kochi Whiskered pitta Luzon in the Philippines.
Erythropitta erythrogaster Philippine pitta Philippines.
Erythropitta dohertyi Sula pitta Sula and Banggai Islands
Erythropitta celebensis Sulawesi pitta Sulawesi, Manterawu, and Togian Islands
Erythropitta palliceps Siau pitta Siau, and Tagulandang
Erythropitta caeruleitorques Sangihe pitta Indonesia in the Sangihe Islands
Erythropitta rubrinucha South Moluccan pitta Indonesia on Buru and Seram.
Erythropitta rufiventris North Moluccan pitta northern Moluccas
Erythropitta meeki (Rothschild, 1898) Louisiade pitta Louisiade Archipelago in Papua New Guinea
Erythropitta novaehibernicae Bismarck pitta New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea
Erythropitta splendida Tabar pitta Tabar Group in Papua New Guinea, some authorities still consider it as a subspecies of the Bismarck pitta
Erythropitta gazellae New Britain pitta New Britain in Papua New Guinea, some authorities still consider it as a subspecies of the Bismarck pitta
Erythropitta macklotii Papuan pitta Aru Islands, New Guinea
Erythropitta arquata Blue-banded pitta Borneo
Erythropitta granatina Garnet pitta Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand.
Erythropitta venusta Graceful pitta Sumatra, Indonesia
Erythropitta ussheri Black-crowned pitta Sabah in northern Borneo

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erythropitta.
  1. ^ a b Irestedt, M.; Ohlson, J.I.; Zuccon, D.; Källersjö, M.; Ericson, P.G.P. (2006). "Nuclear DNA from old collections of avian study skins reveals the evolutionary history of the Old World suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes)" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta. 35 (6): 567–580. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00249.x. S2CID 84788609.
  2. ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1854). L'Ateneo Italiano; raccolta di documenti e memorie relative al progresso delle scienze fisiche compilato da S. de Luca e D. Müller. Vol. 2. Paris: Masson. p. 317.
  3. ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 144.
  4. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "NZ wrens, broadbills, pittas". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
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