The bird genus ''Apus'' comprise some of the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

members of the family Apodidae, commonly known as swifts. They are among the fastest birds in the world. They resemble swallows, to which they are not related, but have shorter tails and sickle-shaped wings. Swifts spend most of their life aloft, have very short legs and use them mostly to cling to surfaces.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Apus'' was erected by the Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1777 based on tautonymy and the common swift which had been given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Hirundo apus'' by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The name ''Apus'' is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, ''a'', "without", and πούς, ''pous'', "foot"). Before the 1950s, there was some controversy over which group of organism should have the genus name ''Apus''. In 1801, Bosc gave the small crustacean organisms, known today as ''

Triops ''Triops'' is a genus of small crustaceans in the order Notostraca (tadpole shrimp). The long-lasting resting eggs of several species of ''Triops'' are commonly sold in kits as a pet. The animals hatch upon contact with fresh water. Most adult-st ...

,'' the genus name ''Apus,'' and later authors continued to use this term. Keilhack suggested (in 1909) that this was incorrect since there was already an avian genus named ''Apus'' by Scopoli in 1777 . It was not until 1958 that the controversy finally ended when the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

(ICZN) ruled against the use of the genus name ''Apus'' for the crustaceans and instead recognized the term ''Triops''.

Species

The genus contains 20 species: *

Cape Verde swift The Cape Verde swift or Alexander's swift (''Apus alexandri'') is a small bird of the swift family found only in the Cape Verde Islands. It has been recorded from all the islands except Santa Luzia although it probably breeds only on Santiago, ...

, ''Apus alexandri'' * Common swift, ''Apus apus'' *

Plain swift The plain swift (''Apus unicolor'') is a medium-sized swift. Although this bird is superficially similar to a barn swallow or house martin, it is not related to those passerine species. The resemblances between the groups are due to convergent ev ...

, ''Apus unicolor'' *

Nyanza swift The Nyanza swift (''Apus niansae'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Identification The Nyanza swift, also known as the brown swift, is a medium ...

, ''Apus niansae'' * Pallid swift, ''Apus pallidus'' *

African black swift The African black swift (''Apus barbatus''), also known as the African swift or black swift, is a medium-sized bird in the swift family. It breeds in Africa discontinuously from Liberia, Cameroon, Zaire, Uganda and Kenya southwards to South Afric ...

, ''Apus barbatus'' *

Malagasy black swift The Malagasy black swift (''Apus balstoni'') or Madagascar swift, is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Habitat Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests a ...

, ''Apus balstoni'' *

Fernando Po swift The Fernando Po swift (''Apus sladeniae'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria. The specific epithet is for Constance Sladen Constance Sladen (11 August 184817 Janua ...

''Apus sladeniae'' *

Forbes-Watson's swift Forbes-Watson's swift (''Apus berliozi'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It breeds in coastal areas of Somalia and the southern Arabian Peninsula and on the island of Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; ...

, ''Apus berliozi'' *

Bradfield's swift Bradfield's swift (''Apus bradfieldi'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southern ...

, ''Apus bradfieldi'' *

Pacific swift The Pacific swift or fork-tailed swift (''Apus pacificus'') is a species of bird that is part of the Swift family. It breeds in eastern Asia. It is strongly migratory, spending the northern hemisphere's winter in Southeast Asia and Austral ...

, ''Apus pacificus'' *

Salim Ali's swift Salim Ali's swift (''Apus salimalii'') is a small bird, superficially similar to a house martin. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are ...

, ''Apus salimalii'' *

Blyth's swift Blyth's swift (''Apus leuconyx''), is a small bird, superficially similar to a house martin. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due t ...

, ''Apus leuconyx'' *

Cook's swift Cook's swift (''Apus cooki'') is a small bird, superficially similar to a house martin. It is, however, completely unrelated to those passerine species, since swifts are in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between the groups are due to con ...

, ''Apus cooki'' *

Dark-rumped swift The dark-rumped swift (''Apus acuticauda'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Bhutan and Northeast India and is a vagrant to Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threaten ...

, ''Apus acuticauda'' * Little swift, ''Apus affinis'' * House swift, ''Apus nipalensis'' *

Horus swift The Horus swift (''Apus horus'') is a small bird in the Swift (bird), swift family. Horus, whose name this bird commemorates, was the ancient Egyptian god of the sun, son of Osiris and Isis. Description The Horus swift is 13–15 cm long an ...

, ''Apus horus'' * White-rumped swift, ''Apus caffer'' *

Bates's swift Bates's swift (''Apus batesi'') is a species of small swift in the family Apodidae which is found in western Africa. Description Bates's swift is a small, slender swift with a deeply forked tail which is often held closed to form a point. It has ...

''Apus batesi'' Known fossil species are: *''Apus gaillardi'' (Middle/Late Miocene of La Grive-St.-Alban, France) *''Apus wetmorei'' (Early - Late Pliocene? of SC and SE Europe) *''Apus baranensis'' (Late Pliocene of SE Europe) *''Apus submelba'' (Middle Pleistocene of Slovakia) The Miocene ''"Apus" ignotus'' is now placed in '' Procypseloides''.

References

{{Authority control Bird genera Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli