''Iridosornis'' 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 ...

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

birds in the tanager family

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

These birds live in the Andes mostly at high altitudes. Their plumage is mainly blue and all of them have contrasting patches of yellow.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus ''Iridosornis'' was introduced in 1844 by the French naturalist

René Lesson René-Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Biography Lesson was born at Rochefort, and entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen. He ...

with the

golden-crowned tanager The golden-crowned tanager (''Iridosornis rufivertex'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest Montane ecosys ...

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 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 ...

''iris'' meaning "rainbow" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird". 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 this genus had a sister relationship to the

vermilion tanager The vermilion tanager (''Calochaetes coccineus'') is a species of Neotropical bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Calochaetes''. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropi ...

which is placed in its own

monospecific 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 ...

genus ''Calochaetes''. The genus contains five species:

References

Bird genera Taxa named by René Lesson {{Thraupidae-stub