Ptilinopus

Taxonomy

A molecular study published in 2010 found that the genus Ptilinopus was paraphyletic with the genera Alectroenas containing the blue pigeons and Drepanoptila containing the cloven-feathered dove embedded within it. This result was confirmed by a more comprehensive study of the fruit doves by Alice Cibois and collaborators that was published in 2014. Rather than expanding Ptilinopus to include the morphologically distinct blue pigeons, the genus has been split with two species moved to the resurrected genus Megaloprepia and nine species moved to the resurrected genus Ramphiculus. Even after these changes, genetic evidence indicates that Ptilinopus remains paraphyletic. Cibois and collaborators proposed resurrecting an additional genus, Chrysoena, but in their analysis the statistical support for some of the nodes was weak and this proposal has not been generally adopted.