''Pitohui'' is a genus of birds

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. The birds formerly lumped together as

pitohui The pitohuis are bird species endemic to New Guinea. The onomatopoeic name is thought to be derived from that used by New Guineans from nearby Dorey (Manokwari), but it is also used as the name of a genus '' Pitohui'' which was established by the ...

s were found by a 2008 study that examined their evolutionary history on the basis of the genetic sequences to have included birds that were quite unrelated to each other. They have since been separated into other genera.

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus ''Pitohui'' was introduced in 1831 by the French naturalist

René Lesson René-Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Biography Lesson was born at Rochefort, and entered the Naval Medical School in Rochefort at the age of sixteen. He ...

. Lesson omitted to specify 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 ...

but this was designated as the

northern variable pitohui The northern variable pitohui (''Pitohui kirhocephalus'') is a species of pitohui in the family Oriolidae. It is found on New Guinea and a number of neighbouring islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It ...

Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English zoologist and ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his career he published several mono ...

in 1877. The genus name is a Papuan word for the variable pitohui. The common group name

includes several species of birds that were all historically classified in the genus ''Pitohui''. But now they have been separated into three families and multiple genera. The genus ''Pitohui'' in its strict sense is now placed in the family Oriolidae, while the other pitohui genera have been placed in the families

Oreoicidae Oreoicidae is a newly recognized family (biology), family of small insectivorous songbirds from New Guinea and Australia, commonly known as the Australo-Papuan bellbirds. The family contains three genera, each containing a single species: ''Alead ...

and

Pachycephalidae The Pachycephalidae are a family of bird species that includes the whistlers, shrikethrushes, and three of the pitohuis, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. The family includes 64 species that are separated into f ...

Species

Four

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 ...

are recognized in the revised genus ''Pitouhi'':

Former species

Species that were formerly sometimes placed in the genus ''Pitohui'' include the following: * Crested pitohui (''Ornorectes cristatus,'' Family

, formerly placed as ''Pitohui cristatus'') *

Black pitohui The black pitohui (''Melanorectes nigrescens'') is a species of bird in the monotypic genus of ''Melanorectes'' in the family Pachycephalidae. It is found throughout the highlands of New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mois ...

(''Melanorectes nigrescens,'' Family

'','' formerly placed as ''Pitohui nigrescens'') * White-bellied pitohui (''Pseudorectes incertus,'' Family Pachycephalidae'','' formerly placed as ''Pitohui incertus'') * Rusty pitohui (''Pseudorectes ferrugineus,'' Family Pachycephalidae'','' formerly placed as ''Pitohui ferrugineus'') *

Morningbird The morningbird (''Pachycephala tenebrosa'') is a songbird species in the family (biology), family Pachycephalidae. Taxonomy and systematics The morningbird was previously placed in the genus ''Colluricincla'' until 2013, when it was transferred ...

(''Pachycephala tenebrosa'', Family Pachycephalidae, formerly placed as ''Pitohui tenebrosus'' or as ''Colluricincla tenebrosa'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1066573 * Oriolidae Bird genera Endemic fauna of New Guinea Taxa named by René Lesson