''Hemixos'' is a

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 5000 ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

in the bulbul

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

, Pycnonotidae.

Taxonomy and systematics

Established by Edward Blyth in 1845 for the newly discovered

ashy bulbul The ashy bulbul (''Hemixos flavala'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropic ...

(''H. flavala''),Gregory (2000) this genus contains four extant

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. Some treatments merge the genus into ''

Hypsipetes __NOTOC__ ''Hypsipetes'' is a genus of bulbuls, songbirds in the family Pycnonotidae. Most of its species occur in tropical forests around the Indian Ocean. But while the genus is quite diverse in the Madagascar region at the western end of its ...

'', often together with the rest of the traditional "''Hypsipetes'' group" of bulbuls: ''

Iole In Greek mythology, Iole (; grc, Ἰόλη ) was the daughter of King Eurytus of Oechalia. According to the brief epitome in the '' Bibliotheca'', Eurytus had a beautiful young daughter named Iole who was eligible for marriage. Iole was claimed ...

'', ''

Ixos ''Ixos'' is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Ixos'' was introduced in 1825 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck to accommodate the Javan bulbul. The genus name is ...

'', '' Microscelis'' and '' Tricholestes''. But in this case, the closely related genera '' Alophoixus'' and '' Setornis'' would probably also have to be included, and as soon as the earliest described genus, ''Ixos'', is merged with another its name would apply. In fact, ''Hemixos'' is not particularly close to ''Hypsipetes'', and a merger is not well justified.

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

NADH dehydrogenase NADH dehydrogenase is an enzyme that converts nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) from its reduced form (NADH) to its oxidized form (NAD+). Members of the NADH dehydrogenase family and analogues are commonly systematically named using the for ...

subunits 2 and 3 and

nDNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. I ...

β-fibrinogen intron 7

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

data puts it closer to (but still well distant from) the streaked bulbul (''Ixos malaccensis''). But whether that species represents the core group of ''Ixos'' – around its

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 specime ...

'' I. virescens'' (Sunda bulbul or green-winged bulbul) –, or a distinct lineage worthy of separation in a new genus – in which case ''Hypsipetes'' might be merged into the core group of ''Ixos'' – has not been studied. In any case, though minor, the ''Hemixos'' lineage with its stark white throat and light wing patches seems well distinct.

Extant species

Four species are currently recognised: * Cream-striped bulbul (''Hemixos leucogrammicus''; moved from ''Pycnonotus'' following molecular phylogenetic analyses) *

Ashy bulbul The ashy bulbul (''Hemixos flavala'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropic ...

(''Hemixos flavala'') * Cinereous bulbul (''Hemixos cinereus'') * Chestnut bulbul (''Hemixos castanonotus'')

Former species

Previously, some authorities also classified the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Hemixos'': * Sumatran bulbul (as ''Hemixus sumatranus'')

Footnotes

References

* Gregory, Steven M. (2000): Nomenclature of the Hypsipetes Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae). ''

Forktail The forktails are small insectivorous birds in the genus ''Enicurus''. They were formerly in the thrush family, Turdidae, but are more often now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Their name derives from their lo ...

'' 16: 164–166
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* Moyle, Robert G. & Marks, Ben D. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 40(3): 687–695. (HTML abstract) * Pasquet, Éric; Han, Lian-Xian; Khobkhet, Obhas & Cibois, Alice (2001): Towards a molecular systematics of the genus ''Criniger'', and a preliminary phylogeny of the bulbuls (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae). ''Zoosystema'' 23(4): 857–863
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q339465 Bulbuls Bird genera Taxa named by Edward Blyth Taxonomy articles created by Polbot