''Microptilotis'' is a genus of birds 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 ...

. The genus was introduced in 1912 by the Australian ornithologist

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews Order of the British Empire, CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble, New South Wal ...

with the

graceful honeyeater The graceful honeyeater (''Microptilotis gracilis'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in the Aru Islands, southern New Guinea, and Cape York Peninsula. Its natural habitat In ecology, the term habitat summar ...

(''Microptilotis gracilis'') 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 ''Microptilotis'' 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 ...

''mikros'' meaning "small" and the genus name ''Ptilotis''. The genus contains 10 species: * Mottle-breasted honeyeater (''Microptilotis mimikae'') * Forest honeyeater (''Microptilotis montana'') * Mountain honeyeater (''Microptilotis orientalis'') * Scrub honeyeater (''Microptilotis albonotata'') * Mimic honeyeater (''Microptilotis analoga'') *

Tagula honeyeater The Tagula honeyeater (''Microptilotis vicina'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independ ...

(''Microptilotis vicina'') *

Graceful honeyeater The graceful honeyeater (''Microptilotis gracilis'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in the Aru Islands, southern New Guinea, and Cape York Peninsula. Its natural habitat In ecology, the term habitat summar ...

(''Microptilotis gracilis'') * Cryptic honeyeater (''Microptilotis imitatrix'') * Elegant honeyeater (''Microptilotis cinereifrons'') * Yellow-gaped honeyeater (''Microptilotis flavirictus'') The species now placed in ''Microptilotis'' were formerly placed in the genus ''

Meliphaga ''Meliphaga'' is a genus of birds in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The genus was introduced by the English artist John Lewin in 1808. The name ''Meliphaga'' combines the Ancient Greek meaning "honey" and meaning eating. The type species ...

''. When

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 ...

studies found that ''Meliphaga'' contained two distinct clades, the genus was split and many of the species transferred to the resurrected genus ''Microptilotis''.

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Gregory Mathews {{Meliphagidae-stub