''Periparus'' 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 ...

of birds in the tit family. The birds in the genus were formerly included in ''

Parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed mo ...

'' but were moved to ''Periparus'' when ''Parus'' was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed

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 ...

analysis in 2005. The name ''Periparus'' had been introduced for a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of ''Parus'' that included the coal tit by the Belgium naturalist

Edmond de Sélys Longchamps Baron Michel Edmond de Selys Longchamps (25 May 1813 – 11 December 1900) was a Belgian Liberal Party politician and scientist. Selys Longchamps has been regarded as the founding figure of odonatology, the study of the dragonflies and damself ...

in 1884. The genus name, is

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 ...

''peri'' plus the pre-existing genus ''Parus''. The genus contains the following species: All occur in Asia; the coal tit also has a wide range in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. These birds have white cheeks and most have a tufted head.

References

* Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2007).

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. Paridae Bird genera {{Paridae-stub