''Riccordia'' 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 hummingbird family

Trochilidae Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics arou ...

. They are endemic to the Caribbean.

Species

The species now placed in this

were formerly assigned to the genus ''

Chlorostilbon ''Chlorostilbon'' is a genus of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae, known as emeralds (as are some hummingbirds in the genera ''Amazilia'' and '' Elvira''). A single species, the blue-chinned sapphire is variously placed in the monotypic gen ...

''. 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 ''Chlorostilbon'' was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

. In the revised classification to create

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

genera, these species, as well as the

blue-headed hummingbird The blue-headed hummingbird (''Riccordia bicolor'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found only on the islands of Dominica and Martinique in the Lesser Antilles.Clements, J. F., T ...

in the

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 ...

''Cyanophaia'', were moved to the resurrected genus ''Riccordia'' that had been introduced in 1854 by the German ornithologist

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. It was he who first requested Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate models for scientific education and museu ...

with the

Cuban emerald The Cuban emerald (''Riccordia ricordii'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in the Bahamas and Cuba. Taxonomy and systematics The Cuban emerald was formerly placed in the ge ...

as the type species. The two extinct species, Brace's emerald and Gould's emerald, were not included in the phylogenetic studies and thus their placement is uncertain. Reichenbach based the genus name on the specific epithet of the type species, ''recordii'', which had been chosen by

Paul Gervais Paul Gervais full name François Louis Paul Gervais (26 September 1816 – 10 February 1879) was a French palaeontologist and entomologist. Biography Gervais was born in Paris, where he obtained the diplomas of doctor of science and of medicine ...

to honour the French surgeon-naturalist Alexandre Ricord (born 1798). The genus contains six species, of which two are

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

: *

Blue-headed hummingbird The blue-headed hummingbird (''Riccordia bicolor'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found only on the islands of Dominica and Martinique in the Lesser Antilles.Clements, J. F., T ...

, ''Riccordia bicolor'' *

Puerto Rican emerald The Puerto Rican emerald (''Riccordia maugaeus''), or zumbadorcito de Puerto Rico in Spanish, is species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico.Bündgen, R. and P. F. D. Boesman ...

, ''Riccordia maugaeus'' *

, ''Riccordia ricordii'' *

Hispaniolan emerald The Hispaniolan emerald (''Riccordia swainsonii'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Taxonom ...

, ''Riccordia swainsonii'' *†

Brace's emerald Brace's emerald (''Riccordia bracei'') is an extinct species of hummingbird which was endemic to the main island of the Bahamas, New Providence. Description Its size was 9.5 cm, the wing length 11.4 cm and length of the tail 2.7 c ...

, ''Riccordia bracei'' *†

Gould's emerald Gould's emerald (''Riccordia elegans'') is an extinct species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It was described based on a single specimen taken in 1860; it is of unknown origin, but the northern Bahamas or especially Jamaica are likely s ...

, ''Riccordia elegans''

References

Riccordia Bird genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach Higher-level bird taxa restricted to the West Indies {{hummingbird-stub