''Totanus'' (Bechstein, 1803) is a generic name previously applied to various waders or shorebirds, now subsumed within '' Tringa''. Created by

Johann Matthäus Bechstein Johann Matthäus Bechstein (11 July 1757 – 23 February 1822) was a German naturalist, forester, ornithologist, entomologist, and herpetologist. In Great Britain, he was known for his treatise on singing birds (''Naturgeschichte der Stubenvög ...

, it derives from the species name for the common redshank, described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Scolopax totanus'', from ''totano'', the Italian name for the bird.Higgins, P. J.; & Davies, S. J. J. F. (Eds). (1996). ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. (page 131) Birds once placed in the genus include: * Common redshank (''Totanus totanus''), now ''Tringa totanus'' * Greater yellowlegs (''Totanus melanoleucus''), now ''Tringa melanoleuca'' * Lesser yellowlegs (''Totanus flavipes''), now ''Tringa flavipes'' * Willet (''Totanus semipalmatus''), now ''Tringa semipalmata''

References

Bird genera Sandpipers Obsolete bird taxa {{Charadriiformes-stub