''Antigone'' 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 large birds in the crane family. The species in this genus were formerly placed in the genus '' Grus''.

Taxonomy

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that the genus '' Grus'' 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 conver ...

. In the subsequent rearrangement, four species were placed in the resurrected genus ''Antigone''. The genus had initially been erected in 1853 by German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. 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 ...

is the sarus crane (''Antigone antigone'').

Species

The genus includes four species:

References

Bird genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach {{Gruiformes-stub