''Microchera'' is a genus of
hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...
s.
Species
The genus includes three species:
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Snowcap, ''Microchera albocoronata''
*
Coppery-headed emerald
The coppery-headed emerald (''Microchera cupreiceps'') is a small hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Costa Rica.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and ...
, ''Microchera cupreiceps''
*
White-tailed emerald
The white-tailed emerald (''Microchera chionura'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the ...
, ''Microchera chionura''
The white-tailed emerald and the coppery-headed emerald were formerly placed in the genus ''Elvira''. A
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 published in 2014 found that these two species were closely related to the
snowcap in the genus ''Microchera''.
The three species were therefore placed together in ''Microchera'' which has priority.
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References
Microchera
Bird genera
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