''Melithreptus'' 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 ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the honeyeater family

Meliphagidae The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Guinea ...

. Its members are native to Australia. It is generally considered to contain seven species, although some authors have classified the related

blue-faced honeyeater The blue-faced honeyeater (''Entomyzon cyanotis''), also colloquially known as the bananabird, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. It is the only member of its genus, and it is most closely related to honeyeaters of the ...

within this genus. The genus was originally defined by French ornithologist

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collecte ...

in 1817.

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

had coined the term ''Eidopsarus'' in 1837. He named the

black-headed honeyeater The black-headed honeyeater (''Melithreptus affinis'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is one of two members of the genus '' Melithreptus'' endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitats are temperate forest and Mediterranean-typ ...

''Eidopsarus affinis'' in 1839, which Gould, likely unaware, described as ''Melithreptus melanocephalus'' in 1844. It has been further subdivided into two subgenera, ''Melithreptus'' and ''Eidopsarus'' based on foraging habits. Those of the former subgenus forage for insects in foliage or canopy, congregate in larger flocks, and are found in more open dry sclerophyll forests. They also have smaller feet and a less prominent or missing nuchal bar. Members of the subgenus ''Eidopsarus'' forage by probing for insects in bark of tree trunks and branches, generally in eucalypt forest and rainforest, and travel in small family groups. They have sturdier legs and feet and a more prominent nuchal band. Biologist Allen Keast studied the genus extensively across Australia, and noted that a member of each group were found together in many parts of the country, with the trunk-foraging species averaging 10% larger - thus the smaller ''lunatus'' occurs with the larger ''gularis'', and this is most exaggerated in Tasmania, where the difference between ''affinis'' and ''validirostris'' is even more marked. Keast proposed that the two species were diversifying into other niches in the absence of other mainland trunk-feeding species, shriketits,

treecreepers The treecreepers are a family (biology), family, Certhiidae, of small passerine Aves, birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains eleven species in two genus, genera, ''Certhia'' and ...

and

sittella The sittellas are a family, Neosittidae, of small passerine birds found only in Australasia. They resemble nuthatches, but whilst they were considered to be in that family for many years they are now afforded their own family. They do not migrat ...

, in the case of ''validirostris'', and smaller species with ''affinis''. Furthermore, the bill of the shorter-billed taxon in areas where the trunk feeder was absent grew longer, as ''chloropsis'' did in Western Australia. Molecular markers show genus split from the ancestors of the blue-faced honeyeater somewhere between 12.8 and 6.4 million years ago in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

epoch. That species differs from them in its much larger size, brighter plumage and more gregarious nature and larger patch of bare facial skin. The white-throated honeyeater split off between 9 and 5 million years ago, independently of the other three members of the subgenus ''Melithreptus''. The strong-billed honeyeater separated from the other members of ''Eidopsarus'' between 6.7 and 3.4 million years ago. Classically, six species have been recognised, but evidence published in 2010 confirms the distinct status of

Gilbert's honeyeater Gilbert's honeyeater (''Melithreptus chloropsis''), also known as the Swan River honeyeater or western white-naped honeyeater, is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southwestern Australia. A mid-sized honeyeater, it ...

. In former years, the golden-backed honeyeater (''M. laetior'') of northern Australia was considered distinct, but it has a broad band of overlap (with intermediate forms) with the

black-chinned honeyeater The black-chinned honeyeater (''Melithreptus gularis'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical d ...

and is hence considered a subspecies of it.

Species

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1079233 Meliphagidae ^ Bird genera Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot