An aracari or araçari ( ,
, )
is any of the medium-sized
toucan
Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ge ...
s that, together with the
saffron toucanet
The saffron toucanet (''Pteroglossus bailloni'') is a species of bird in the family Ramphastidae found in the Atlantic Forest in far north-eastern Argentina, south-eastern Brazil, and eastern Paraguay.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species' scie ...
, make up the genus ''Pteroglossus''.
They are brightly
plumage
Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
d and have enormous, contrastingly patterned bills. These birds are residents in forests and woodlands in the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Pteroglossus'' was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist
Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger
Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (19 November 1775 – 10 May 1813) was a German entomologist and zoologist.
Illiger was the son of a merchant in Braunschweig. He studied under the entomologist Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig, Johann Hellwig, and late ...
. The name combines the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''pteron'' meaning "feather" with ''glōssa'' meaning "tongue".
George Robert Gray
George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...
designated the
black-necked aracari as the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
of the genus in 1840.
The name "Aracari" was used in 1648 by the German naturalist
Georg Marcgrave
Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" " Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mo ...
for the
black-necked aracari in his book ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae''. The name comes from the word ''Arassari'', the name of the bird in the
Tupi language
Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi (also spelled as Tupí) is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the aboriginal Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. It belongs to the ...
.
One species, the distinctive
saffron toucanet
The saffron toucanet (''Pteroglossus bailloni'') is a species of bird in the family Ramphastidae found in the Atlantic Forest in far north-eastern Argentina, south-eastern Brazil, and eastern Paraguay.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species' scie ...
, was formerly placed in the
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Baillonius'', but Renato Kimura and collaborators showed in 2004 that it belongs in the genus ''Pteroglossus''.
A 2010
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study by Swati Patel and collaborators found that the
brown-mandibled aracari was nested with the subspecies of the
ivory-billed aracari
The ivory-billed aracari or ivory-billed araçari (''Pteroglossus azara'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Ilif ...
:
Extant species
Fourteen species are considered to belong to the genus ''Pteroglossus'':
Former species
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize additional species or subspecies as species belonging to the genus ''Pteroglossus'' including:
*
Wagler's toucanet
Wagler's toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus wagleri'') is a species of bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is endemic to southwestern Mexico.
Taxonomy and systematics
Wagler's toucanet was originally described in the genus '' Pteroglossus''. ...
(as ''Pteroglossus wagleri'')
*
Emerald toucanet
The emerald toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus prasinus'') is a species of near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found from Mexico to Nicaragua.
Taxonomy and systematics
The emerald toucanet was originally described in the genu ...
(as ''Pteroglossus prasinus'')
*
White-throated toucanet
The white-throated toucanet or greyish-throated toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus albivitta'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The white-throated ...
(as ''Pteroglossus albivitta'')
*
Black-throated toucanet (as ''Pteroglossus atrogularis'')
*
Groove-billed toucanet (as ''Pteroglossus sulcatus'')
*
Crimson-rumped toucanet
The crimson-rumped toucanet (''Aulacorhynchus haematopygus'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The crimson-rumped toucanet was originally ...
(as ''Pteroglossus haematopygus'')
*
Guianan toucanet
The Guianan toucanet, or Guyana toucanet (''Selenidera piperivora'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccors ...
(as ''Pteroglossus Culik'')
*
Golden-collared toucanet (as ''Pteroglossus reinwardtii'')
*
Langsdorff's toucanet (as ''Pteroglossus langsdorffii'')
*
Tawny-tufted toucanet
The tawny-tufted toucanet (''Selenidera nattereri'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and possible Guyana.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Ja ...
(as ''Pteroglossus nattereri'')
*
Gould's toucanet
Gould's toucanet (''Selenidera gouldii'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. ...
(as ''Pteroglossus gouldii'')
*
Spot-billed toucanet
The spot-billed toucanet (''Selenidera maculirostris'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. ...
(as ''Pteroglossus maculirostris'')
*
Gray-breasted mountain toucan (as ''Pteroglossus hypoglaucus'')
*
Hooded mountain toucan (as ''Pteroglossus cucullatus'')
*
Black-billed mountain toucan
The black-billed mountain toucan (''Andigena nigrirostris'') is a species of bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The black-billed mountain toucan was origin ...
(as ''Pteroglossus nigrirostris'')
Behaviour and ecology
Some species of aracaris are unusual for toucans in that they roost socially throughout the year, up to six adults and fledged young sleeping in the same hole with tails folded over their backs.
Breeding
They are
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...
and nest in tree holes laying 2–4 white eggs.
Food and feeding
All the species are basically fruit-eating, but will take insects and other small prey.
Threats
The
ischnocera
The Ischnocera is a large superfamily of lice. They are mostly parasitic on birds, but including a large family (the Trichodectidae) parasitic on mammals. The genus '' Trichophilopterus'' is also found on mammals (lemurs), but probably belongs ...
n
louse
Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result o ...
''
Austrophilopterus flavirostris'' is suspected to
parasitize most if not all species of aracaris, with the possible exception of the
green aracari
The green araçari (''Pteroglossus viridis''), is a toucan, a near-passerine bird. It is found in the lowland forests of northeastern South America (the Guiana Shield), in the northeast Amazon Basin, the Guianas and the eastern Orinoco River drain ...
(Price & Weckstein 2005).
References
*Price, Roger D. & Weckstein, Jason D. (2005): The genus ''Austrophilopterus'' Ewing (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from toucans, toucanets, and araçaris (Piciformes: Ramphastidae). ''
Zootaxa
''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week. ...
'' 918: 1–18
PDF fulltext
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Toucans