''Patagioenas'' is a

genus 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 nom ...

of New World

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s whose distinctness from the genus '' Columba'' was long disputed but ultimately confirmed. It is basal to the ''Columba''-''

Streptopelia ''Streptopelia'' is a genus of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. These are mainly slim, small to medium-sized species. The upperparts tend to be pale brown and the underparts are often a shade of pink. Many have a characteristic bla ...

'' radiation. Their ancestors diverged from that lineage probably over 8

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago) ...

. While the

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

pattern of this group suggests that the ancestors of the typical pigeons and turtle-doves settled the Old World from the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, ''Patagioenas'' may just as well be the offspring of Old World pigeons which only radiated into different genera later, given that the cuckoo-doves (''

Macropygia ''Macropygia'' is a genus of bird in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae. The genus is one of three genera known as cuckoo-doves. They are long tailed, range between 27 and 45 cm in length and have brown plumage. The genus ranges from Ind ...

'') of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

also seem to be closely related.Johnson ''et al.'' (2001), Cheke (2005)

Taxonomy

The genus ''Patagioenas'' was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853 with the

white-crowned pigeon The white-crowned pigeon (''Patagioenas leucocephala'') is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean. John James Audubon painted these pigeons, including the waterco ...

(''Patagioenas leucocephala'') 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 specime ...

. The genus name 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 p ...

''patageō'' meaning "to clatter" and ''oinas'' meaning "pigeon". There are 17

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of ''Patagioenas'', which can be assigned to 4 groups based on

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

cytochrome ''b'', cytochrome ''c'' oxidase subunit I, and

NADH dehydrogenase NADH dehydrogenase is an enzyme that converts nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) from its reduced form (NADH) to its oxidized form (NAD+). Members of the NADH dehydrogenase family and analogues are commonly systematically named using the for ...

subunit 2, as well as the nuclear β-fibrinogen intron 7 data combined with analyses of vocalizations and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

. They could be considered subgenera, but one of them remains unnamed as such and thus they are only informally listed here:Johnson ''et al.'' (2001), Mahler & Tubaro (2001) ''caribaea''/band-tailed group (''Chloroenas''): Tails with terminal bands and iridescent neck; rows of low single coos. Apparently the most basal group. *

Band-tailed pigeon The band-tailed pigeon (''Patagioenas fasciata'') is a medium-sized bird of the Americas. Its closest relatives are the Chilean pigeon and the ring-tailed pigeon, which form a clade of ''Patagioenas'' with a terminal tail band and iridescent p ...

, ''Patagioenas fasciata'' *

Chilean pigeon The Chilean pigeon (''Patagioenas araucana'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Chile and Argentina. Taxonomy and systematics The Chilean pigeon is monotypic. It, ring-tailed pigeon (''Patagioenas caribaea''), and ...

, ''Patagioenas araucana'' * Ring-tailed pigeon, ''Patagioenas caribaea'' ''leucocephala'' group (''Patagioenas sensu stricto''): Iridescent neck and dark plumage, or white edged outer wing coverts, or scaly appearance; groups of triple coos with the first call in each drawn out except in ''speciosa'' *

White-crowned pigeon The white-crowned pigeon (''Patagioenas leucocephala'') is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean. John James Audubon painted these pigeons, including the waterco ...

, ''Patagioenas leucocephala'' *

Scaly-naped pigeon The scaly-naped pigeon (''Patagioenas squamosa''), also known as the red-necked pigeon, is a bird belonging to the family Columbidae. The species occurs throughout the Caribbean. Description The scaly-naped pigeon is a large slate grey pige ...

, ''Patagioenas squamosa'' * Scaled pigeon, ''Patagioenas speciosa'' * Picazuro pigeon, ''Patagioenas picazuro'' * Bare-eyed pigeon, ''Patagioenas corensis'' *

Spot-winged pigeon The spot-winged pigeon (''Patagioenas maculosa'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jara ...

, ''Patagioenas maculosa'' ''cayennensis'' group: No display plumage except iridescent head in ''cayennensis''; groups of double or triple coos with the first call in each short * Pale-vented pigeon, ''Patagioenas cayennensis'' * Red-billed pigeon, ''Patagioenas flavirostris'' * Maranon pigeon, ''Patagioenas oenops'' *

Plain pigeon The plain pigeon (''Patagioenas inornata'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in the four Greater Antilles: Cuba, Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Its natural habitats are fores ...

, ''Patagioenas inornata'' ''plumbea'' group (''Oenoenas''): Small size, plain plumage, rounded tails, small bills, phrase composed of high single coos * Plumbeous pigeon, ''Patagioenas plumbea'' * Ruddy pigeon, ''Patagioenas subvinacea'' * Short-billed pigeon, ''Patagioenas nigrirostris'' * Dusky pigeon, ''Patagioenas goodsoni'' A fossil species (Curtis pigeon) initially placed in ''Chloroenas'', ''Patagioenas micula'' (Early

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Bull. B.O.C.'' 125(4): 293–295
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* * Mahler, Bettina & Tubaro, Pablo L. (2001). Relationship between song characters and morphology in New World pigeons. '' Biol. J. Linn. Soc.'' 74(4): 533–539. (HTML abstract)

Taxonomy

Further reading