Petrophassa
Petrophassa rufipennis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Subfamily: Columbinae
Genus: Petrophassa
Gould, 1841
Type species
Petrophassa albipennis[1]
Gould, 1841
Species

See text

Petrophassa, commonly known as the rock pigeons, is a small genus of doves in the family Columbidae native to Australia, and similar to bronzewing pigeons.

The genus was introduced in 1841 by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould with the white-quilled rock pigeon (Petrophassa albipennis) as the type species.[2][3] The genus name is a portmanteau of the Ancient Greek words petros, meaning "rock", and phassa, meaning "pigeon".[4]

The genus contains two species:[5]


Genus Petrophassa – Gould, 1841 – two species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Chestnut-quilled rock pigeon

Petrophassa rufipennis
Collett, 1898 		Northern Territory of Australia. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


White-quilled rock pigeon

Petrophassa albipennis
Gould, 1841

Two subspecies
  • P. a. albipennis Gould, 1841
  • P. a. boothi Goodwin, 1969
Australia Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 



They are not closely related to Columba livia, the rock dove (also called rock pigeon), a species which includes the domestic and feral pigeons as well as the wild species native to Europe, North Africa and Asia.

References

  1. ^ "Columbidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. ^ Gould, John (1840). "Genus Petrophassa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Part 8: 173. Although bearing the year 1840 on the title page, the volume did not appear until 1841.
  3. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 117.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 March 2020.


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