Greenfinch
European greenfinch (Chloris chloris); male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Chloris
Cuvier, 1800
Type species
Loxia chloris[1]
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Synonyms

Chloris Cuvier, 1800 (but see text)
Chloris C.L.Brehm, 1856 (non Cuvier, 1800: preoccupied)
Chloris A.E.Brehm, 1857 (non Cuvier, 1800: preoccupied)

The greenfinches are small passerine birds in the genus Chloris in the subfamily Carduelinae within the Fringillidae. The species have a Eurasian distribution except for the European greenfinch, which also occurs in North Africa.

These finches all have large conical bills and yellow patches on the wing feathers.

The greenfinches were formerly placed in the genus Carduelis. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that the greenfinches form a monophyletic group that is not closely related to the species in Carduelis and instead is sister to a clade containing the desert finch (Rhodospiza obsoleta) and the Socotra golden-winged grosbeak (Rhynchostruthus socotranus).[2] The greenfinches were therefore moved to the resurrected genus Chloris which had originally been introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800 with the European greenfinch as the type species.[3][4] The name is from Ancient Greek khloris, the European greenfinch, from khloros, "green".[5]

Extant species

The genus contains six species:[4][6]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
Chloris ambigua Black-headed greenfinch Yunnan, northern Laos, eastern Myanmar and adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and northeastern India
Chloris chloris European greenfinch Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia
Chloris sinica Grey-capped greenfinch East Asia
Chloris kittlitzi Bonin greenfinch[7] The Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands
Chloris monguilloti Vietnamese greenfinch southern Vietnam
Chloris spinoides Yellow-breasted greenfinch Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent

Fossil species

Restoration of the extinct Chloris aurelioi, described September 23, 2010

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chloris (Fringillidae).
  1. ^ "Fringillidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID 22023825.
  3. ^ Cuvier, Georges (1800). Leçons d'anatomie comparée. Vol. 1. Paris: Baudouin. Table 2. The year on the title page is An VIII.
  4. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  7. ^ Saitoh, Takema; Kawakami, Kazuto; Red'kin, Yaroslav A.; Nishiumi, Isao; Kim, Chang-Hoe; Kryukov, Alexey P. (2020-05-27). "Cryptic Speciation of the Oriental Greenfinch Chloris sinica on Oceanic Islands". Zoological Science. 37 (3): 280–294. doi:10.2108/zs190111. ISSN 0289-0003. PMID 32549542.
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