''Iole'' 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 ...

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 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 As ...

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. They are native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

eastern Asia, from India to China and south through Southeast Asia to northern Indonesia.

Taxonomy and systematics

While some older sources merge this 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 ...

'', this is neither advisable nor technically correct. The two genera stand well apart, and to

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

ally justify their merging, the entire "''Hypsipetes'' group" of bulbuls would need to be united in a single genus. That would include ''

Hemixos ''Hemixos'' is a songbird genus in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. Taxonomy and systematics Established by Edward Blyth in 1845 for the newly discovered ashy bulbul (''H. flavala''),Gregory (2000) this genus contains four extant species. ...

'', ''

Ixos ''Ixos'' is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul family (biology), 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 ...

'', '' Microscelis'' and '' Tricholestes'', and probably also ''

Alophoixus ''Alophoixus'' is a genus of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae found in south-eastern Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Extant species Up to 2009, all the extant species of the genus ''Alophoixus'' were classified within the genus ''C ...

'' and 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 ...

'' Setornis''. The

hook-billed bulbul The hook-billed bulbul (''Setornis criniger'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in eastern Sumatra and Borneo, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or ...

may in fact be the closest living relative to the species in ''Iole'', but altogether the present genus may well be a quite basal lineage of the traditional "''Hypsipetes'' group" of bulbuls, with no particularly close relatives among any of these other genera.Gregory (2000), Pasquet ''et al.'' (2001), Moyle & Marks (2006) According to

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 An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is not expressed or operative in the final RNA product. The word ''intron'' is derived from the term ''intragenic region'', i.e. a region inside a gene."The notion of the cistron .e., gene. ...

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 ''Alophoixus'' is only slightly more distant from ''Hypsipetes'' than ''Iole'' is, whereas mtDNA 12S rRNA and

16S rRNA 16S rRNA may refer to: * 16S ribosomal RNA 16 S ribosomal RNA (or 16 S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome ( SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The g ...

sequence data places it actually closer to ''Hypsipetes'' than to ''Iole''. As the

genus name 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 nomenclat ...

''Ixos'' pre-dates ''Hypsipetes'', it would thus apply to such a thoroughly merged "

wastebin taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...

Extant species

The following seven

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 ...

are currently recognized: *

Finsch's bulbul Finsch's bulbul (''Iole finschii'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by h ...

(''Iole finschii''; formerly ''Alophoixus finschii'') * Sulphur-bellied bulbul (''Iole palawanensis'') *

Olive bulbul The olive bulbul (''Iole viridescens'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found from southern Myanmar to south-western Thailand and the Malay Peninsula. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowla ...

(''Iole viridescens'') *

Buff-vented bulbul The buff-vented bulbul (''Iole crypta'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in south-eastern Myanmar, south-western Thailand, on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and nearby islands. Its natural habitat is subtrop ...

(''Iole crypta'') * Charlotte's bulbul (''Iole charlottae'') *

Cachar bulbul The Cachar bulbul (''Iole cacharensis'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The ...

(''Iole cacharensis'') *

Grey-eyed bulbul The grey-eyed bulbul (''Iole propinqua'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in Southeast Asia in its natural habitat of subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Taxonomy and systematics The grey-eyed ...

(''Iole propinqua'')

Former species

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus ''Iole'': *

Yellow-browed bulbul The yellow-browed bulbul (''Acritillas indica''), or golden-browed bulbul, is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in the forests of southern India and Sri Lanka. The yellow-browed bulbul is mainly yellow on the ...

(as ''Iole indica'') * Yellow-browed bulbul (icterica) (as ''Iole icterica'') * Cinereous bulbul (as ''Iole cinerea'') * Mindoro bulbul (as ''Iole Mindorensis'') *

Visayan bulbul The Visayan bulbul (''Hypsipetes guimarasensis'') or Steere's bulbul, is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the western Visayas in the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowla ...

(as ''Iole Guimarasensis'') *

Zamboanga bulbul The Zamboanga bulbul (''Hypsipetes rufigularis'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests of Basilan and the Zamboanga ...

(as ''Iole rufigularis'') *

Streak-breasted bulbul The streak-breasted bulbul (''Hypsipetes siquijorensis'') is a songbird species in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is endemic to the Philippines being found in the Visayas on the islands of Tablas Island, Siquijor, Cebu and Romblon where it ...

(as ''Iole siquijorensis'') * Romblon bulbul (as ''Iole cinereiceps'') * Cebu bulbul (as ''Iole monticola'')

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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Bird genera Bulbuls Taxa named by Edward Blyth {{Pycnonotidae-stub