The orange-throated tanager (''Wetmorethraupis sterrhopteron'') is a species of bird 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 ...

that is found very locally in humid forests around the Ecuador-Peru border. As a species it is considered

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

. The orange-throated tanager is the only member of the genus ''Wetmorethraupis'', named after the ornithologist

Alexander Wetmore Frank Alexander Wetmore (June 18, 1886 – December 7, 1978) was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist. He was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Early life and education The son of a Country Physician, Frank Al ...

. It is closely related to members of the genus ''

Bangsia ''Bangsia'' is a genus of Neotropical birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. They are native to humid forests in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica. Taxonomy and species list The genus ''Bangsia'' was introduce in 1919 by the ornithologi ...

''.

Taxonomy

The orange-throated tanager was formally described by George Lowery and John O'Neill in 1964. The authors placed the species in a new genus ''Wetmorethraupis'' to give the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Wetmorethraupis sterrhopteron''. The genus name honours the American ornithologist

by combining his name with the genus name ''

Thraupis ''Thraupis'' is a genus of birds of the tanager family occurring from Mexico to Argentina and Brazil. Some are familiar species with large ranges. In Brazil it's called Pipira-azul ''(''pronn'': peepeeră, æzoól'') when it has a tone blue col ...

'', the type genus of the tanager family

. The specific epithet 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 ...

''sterrhos '' meaning "stiff" or "hard" with ''pteron'' meaning feather. 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 ''Wetmorethraupis'' was the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to ''

.'' The orange-throated tanager is

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 ...

: no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised.

References

* Schulenberg, T., Stotz, D., Lane, D., O'Neill, J., & Parker III, T. (2007). ''Birds of Peru.'' Christopher Helm.

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the orange-throated tanager
orange-throated tanager Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes Birds of the Peruvian Andes orange-throated tanager Tanagers {{Thraupidae-stub