''Pyrocephalus'' is a genus of bird in the tyrant flycatcher family, Tyrannidae. The genus was introduced by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1839 in Charles Darwin's ''

Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle ''The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the Years 1832 to 1836'' is a 5-part book published unbound in nineteen numbers as they were ready, between February 1838 and October 1843. It was writ ...

''. The type species was designated as the

scarlet flycatcher The scarlet flycatcher or austral vermilion flycatcher (''Pyrocephalus rubinus'') is a species of flycatcher, closely related to the vermilion flycatcher. It is found in southeastern Bolivia and Brazil, Paraguay to Argentina and Uruguay. It is r ...

(''Pyrocephalus rubinus'') by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840. The name ''Pyrocephalus'' combines the Ancient Greek ''purrhos'' meaning "flame-coloured" or "red" and ''-kephalos'' meaning "-headed".

Taxonomy

The tyrant flycatcher family, the Tyrannidae, is a group of passerine birds present only in the New World, and its members are generally drab in coloration.del Hoyo, J. Elliott, A. & Christie, D. (editors). (2004) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9: Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails''. Lynx Edicions. Within it, the subfamily Fluvicolinae comprises the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

''Pyrocephalus'', '' Contopus'', '' Empidonax'', and '' Sayornis''. They likely shared a common ancestor in the '' Contopus'' or ''

Xenotriccus ''Xenotriccus'' is a genus of bird in the family Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist i ...

'' genus before diversifying. The ''Pyrocephalus'' are most closely related to the ''Sayornis'' in terms of morphology, but genetic analysis shows that they may be more closely related to the ''

Fluvicola ''Fluvicola'' is a genus of birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. The genus was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1827. He designated the type species as the masked water tyrant (''Fluvicola nengeta'') in ...

''. The vermilion flycatcher likely evolved around 1.15–million years ago (mya), with the species on the Galápagos Islands having split off around 0.82–mya. The South American species/subspecies diverged about 0.56–mya.

Taxonomy

Species

Notes

References

External links