''Eurillas'' 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 ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

birds 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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Eurillas'' was introduced in 1899 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

little greenbul The little greenbul (''Eurillas virens'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The little greenbul was originally described in the genus '' Andropadus'' ...

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 genus 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 ...

''eurus'' meaning "broad" or "wide" and ''illas'' meaning "thrush". This genus was formerly synonymized with the genus '' Andropadus''. 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 of the bulbul family published in 2007 found that ''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 ...

. In the revision to the generic classification five species were moved from ''Andropadus'' to the resurrected genus ''Eurillas''.

Species

The genus contains five species: *

Little greenbul The little greenbul (''Eurillas virens'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The little greenbul was originally described in the genus '' Andropadus'' ...

(''Eurillas virens'') *

Yellow-whiskered greenbul The yellow-whiskered greenbul or yellow-whiskered bulbul (''Eurillas latirostris'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in western and central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, ...

(''Eurillas latirostris'') *

Plain greenbul The plain greenbul (''Eurillas curvirostris'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in western and central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland ...

(''Eurillas curvirostris'') *

Little grey greenbul The little grey greenbul (''Eurillas gracilis'') is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is widely distributed across the African tropical rainforest. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and ...

(''Eurillas gracilis'') *

Ansorge's greenbul Ansorge's greenbul (''Eurillas ansorgei'') or Ansorge's bulbul, is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in western and central Africa. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Taxonomy and ...

(''Eurillas ansorgei'')

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. Greenbuls Taxa named by Harry C. Oberholser {{Pycnonotidae-stub