''Arizelocichla'' is a

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 ...

greenbul The greenbuls are a group of birds within the bulbul family Pycnonotidae, found only within Africa. They are all largely drab olive-green above, and paler below, with few distinguishing features. The "aberrant greenbuls" of the genera '' Bernier ...

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

s in the bulbul

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(

Pycnonotidae The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical Asi ...

). The genus was revived in 2010 when twelve species of bulbuls from the genus '' Andropadus'' were separated and re-classified in the genus ''Arizelocichla''.

Taxonomy

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 of the bulbuls published in 2007 found that the genus '' Andropadus'' was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

. As part of a reorganization to create

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

genera, 12 species from ''Andropadus'' were moved to the resurrected genus ''Arizelocichla'' that had been introduced in 1905 by the American ornithologist

Harry C. Oberholser Harry Church Oberholser (June 25, 1870 – December 25, 1963) was an American ornithologist. Biography Harry Oberholser was born to Jacob and Lavera S. Oberholser on June 25, 1870, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Columbia University, but did ...

with the mountain greenbul 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 ...

. The name ''Arizelocichla'' 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 ...

''arizēlos'' meaning "conspicuous" or "admirable" with ''kikhlē'' meaning "thrush".

Species

The genus contains the following 12 species: * Cameroon greenbul (''Arizelocichla montana'') * Western greenbul (''Arizelocichla tephrolaema'') * Kakamega greenbul (''Arizelocichla kakamegae'') *

Shelley's greenbul Shelley's greenbul (''Arizelocichla masukuensis'') or Shelley's bulbul, is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in east-central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tr ...

(''Arizelocichla masukuensis'') * Uluguru greenbul (''Arizelocichla neumanni'') * Black-browed greenbul (''Arizelocichla fusciceps'') *

Yellow-throated greenbul The yellow-throated greenbul (''Arizelocichla chlorigula'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is an African species found in east-central and southern Tanzania. Taxonomy and systematics The yellow-throated greenbul was ori ...

(''Arizelocichla chlorigula'') * Olive-breasted greenbul (''Arizelocichla kikuyuensis'') * Mountain greenbul (''Arizelocichla nigriceps'') * Olive-headed greenbul (''Arizelocichla olivaceiceps'') * Stripe-faced greenbul (''Arizelocichla striifacies'') * Stripe-cheeked greenbul (''Arizelocichla milanjensis'')

References

*Moyle, R. G., and B. D. Marks. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40: 687–695.

External links

Greenbuls Taxa named by Harry C. Oberholser Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Pycnonotidae-stub