Megaceryle: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
 
(15 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = ''Megaceryle''
| taxon = Megaceryle
| taxon = Megaceryle
| image = Belted Kingfisher.jpg
| image = Belted Kingfisher.jpg
| image_caption = A male [[belted kingfisher]]
| image_caption = A male [[belted kingfisher]] (''Megaceryle alcyon'')
| authority = [[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]], 1848
| authority = [[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]], 1848
| type_species= ''Alcedo guttatus''
| type_species= ''Alcedo guttatus''
Line 10: Line 9:
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
| subdivision =
''M. maxima ''<br>
''M. maxima ''<br />
''M. lugubris ''<br>
''M. lugubris ''<br />
''M. alcyon ''<br>
''M. alcyon ''<br />
''M. torquata ''
''M. torquata ''
}}
}}
{{cladogram|title=Phylogeny
{{cladogram|title=Phylogeny
|caption=Cladogram based on Andersen ''et al.'' (2017)<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Andersen | first1=M.J. | last2=McCullough | first2=J.M. | last3=Mauck III | first3=W.M. | last4=Smith | first4=B.T. | last5=Moyle | first5=R.G. | year=2017 | title=A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands | journal=Journal of Biogeography | volume= | issue= | pages=1–13 | doi=10.1111/jbi.13139 }}</ref>
|caption=Cladogram based on Andersen ''et al.'' (2017)<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Andersen | first1=M.J. | last2=McCullough | first2=J.M. | last3=Mauck III | first3=W.M. | last4=Smith | first4=B.T. | last5=Moyle | first5=R.G. | year=2017 | title=A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands | journal=Journal of Biogeography | volume=45 | issue=2 | pages=1–13 | doi=10.1111/jbi.13139 | doi-access= }}</ref>
|clades={{clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%
|clades={{clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%
|label1=''Megaceryle''
|label1=''Megaceryle''
Line 32: Line 31:
}}
}}


'''''Megaceryle''''' is a genus of very large [[kingfisher]]s. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa and southeast Asia.
'''''Megaceryle''''' is a genus of very large [[kingfisher]]s. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.


The genus was erected by the German naturalist [[Johann Jakob Kaup]] in 1848.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Kaup | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Kaup | year=1848 | title=Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae) | journal=Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung | volume=2 | page=68 | oclc=183221382 | language=German }}</ref> The [[type species]] is a subspecies of the [[crested kingfisher]], ''Megaceryle lugubris guttulata''.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1945 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=165 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480176 }}</ref> ''Megaceryle'' is from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''megas'', "great", and the existing genus ''[[Pied kingfisher|Ceryle]]''.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = 245}}</ref>
The genus was erected by German naturalist [[Johann Jakob Kaup]] in 1848.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Kaup | first=Johann Jakob | author-link=Johann Jakob Kaup | year=1848 | title=Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae) | journal=Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung | volume=2 | page=68 | oclc=183221382 | language=de }}</ref> The [[type species]] is a subspecies of the [[crested kingfisher]], ''Megaceryle lugubris guttulata''.<ref>{{cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1945 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5 | volume=5 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=165 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480176 }}</ref> ''Megaceryle'' is from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''megas'', "great", and the existing genus ''[[Pied kingfisher|Ceryle]]''.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n245 245]}}</ref>


==Species==
The genus comprises four species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title=Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers | work=World Bird List Version 7.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rollers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=17 May 2017 }}</ref>
The genus comprises four species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2017 | title=Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers | work=World Bird List Version 7.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/rollers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 May 2017 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable "
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Wiki-yamasemi-mesu, crop.jpg|120px]]|| ''M. lugubris'' || [[Crested kingfisher]]||northern India, Bangladesh, northern Indochina, Southeast Asia, and Japan
|-
|[[File:Giant Kingfisher, Megaceryle maxima at Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, South Africa (33936852084).jpg|120px]]|| ''M. maxima'' || [[Giant kingfisher]]||Liberia to northern Angola and western Tanzania, island of Bioko, Senegal, and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa
|-
|[[File:Ringed Kingfisher Profile.jpg|120px]]|| ''M. torquata'' || [[Ringed kingfisher]]||Southeasternmost Texas in the United States through Central America to Tierra del Fuego in South America
|-
|[[File:Megaceryle alcyon femelle.jpg|120px]]|| ''M. alcyon'' || [[Belted kingfisher]]||North America, within Canada, Alaska, and the United States
|-
|}


⚫
All are specialist fish-eaters with prominent stiff [[Crest (feathers)|crests]] on their heads. They have dark grey or bluish-grey upperparts, largely unmarked in the two [[Americas|American]] species, but heavily spotted with white in the Asian crested kingfisher and the African giant kingfisher. The underparts may be white or rufous, and all forms have a contrasting breast band except male ringed kingfisher. The underpart pattern is always different for the two sexes of each species.
* [[Crested kingfisher]], ''Megaceryle lugubris''
* [[Giant kingfisher]], ''Megaceryle maxima''
* [[Ringed kingfisher]], ''Megaceryle torquata''
* [[Belted kingfisher]], ''Megaceryle alcyon''


⚫
These birds nest in horizontal tunnels made in a river bank or sand bank. Both parents excavate the tunnel, [[incubate (bird)|incubate]] the eggs, and feed the young.
⚫
All are specialist fish-eaters with prominent stiff [[Crest (feathers)|crests]] on their heads. They have dark grey or bluish-grey upperparts, largely unmarked in the two [[Americas|American]] species, but heavily spotted with white in the [[Asia]]n [[crested kingfisher]] and the [[Africa]]n [[giant kingfisher]]. The underparts may be white or rufous, and all forms have a contrasting breast band except male [[ringed kingfisher]]. The underpart pattern is always different for the two sexes of each species.


⚫
''Megaceryle'' kingfishers are often seen perched prominently on trees, posts, or other suitable watch-points close to water before plunging in headfirst after their prey, usually [[fish]], [[crustacean]]s, or [[frog]]s, but sometimes aquatic [[insect]]s and other suitably sized animals.
⚫
These birds nest in horizontal tunnels made in a river bank or sand bank. Both parents excavate the tunnel, [[incubate (bird)|incubate]] the eggs and feed the young.

⚫
''Megaceryle'' kingfishers are often seen perched prominently on trees, posts, or other suitable watch-points close to water before plunging in head first after their prey, usually [[fish]], [[crustacean]]s or [[frog]]s, but sometimes aquatic [[insect]]s and other suitably sized animals.


==Origins and taxonomy==
==Origins and taxonomy==
The previous view that the ''Megaceryle'' kingfishers arose in the [[New World]] from a specialist fish-eating [[Alcedinidae|Alcedinid]] ancestor which crossed the [[Bering Strait]] and gave rise to this genus and the [[American green kingfisher]]s ''Chloroceryle'', with a large crested species later, in the [[Pliocene]], crossing the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to give rise to the giant and crested kingfishers <ref>{{cite book|author=C. H. Fry & Kathie Fry|author2=illustrated by Alan Harris|year=2000|title=Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers|isbn=0-691-04879-7|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=}}</ref> is probably wrong. Rather, it now seems that the genus probably originates in the Old World, possibly Africa, and the ancestor of the belted and ringed kingfishers made the ocean crossing <ref>Moyle, Robert G. (2006): "[http://www.highbeam.com/library/docfree.asp?DOCID=1Y1:93480914&ctrlInfo=Round20%3AMode20a%3ADocG%3AResult&ao= A molecular phylogeny of kingfishers (Alcedinidae) with insights into early biogeographic history]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}". ''[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]'' '''123'''(2): 487–499.</ref>
The previous view that the ''Megaceryle'' kingfishers arose in the [[New World]] from a specialist fish-eating [[Alcedinidae|alcedinid]] ancestor that crossed the [[Bering Strait]] and gave rise to this genus and the [[American green kingfisher]]s ''Chloroceryle'', with a large crested species later, in the [[Pliocene]], crossing the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to give rise to the giant and crested kingfishers <ref>{{cite book|author=C. H. Fry & Kathie Fry|author2=illustrated by Alan Harris|year=2000|title=Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers|isbn=0-691-04879-7|publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> is probably wrong. Rather, it now seems that the genus probably originates in the Old World, possibly Africa, and the ancestor of the belted and ringed kingfishers made the ocean crossing <ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[487:AMPOKA]2.0.CO;2 | last1 = Moyle | first1 = Robert G. | year = 2006 | title = A molecular phylogeny of kingfishers (Alcedinidae) with insights into early biogeographic history | journal = [[Auk (journal)|Auk]] | volume = 123 | issue = 2| pages = 487–499 | hdl = 1808/16596 | hdl-access = free }}</ref>


The ''Megaceryle'' kingfishers were formerly placed in ''Ceryle'' with the [[pied kingfisher]], but the latter is genetically closer to the American green kingfishers.
The ''Megaceryle'' kingfishers were formerly placed in ''Ceryle'' with the [[pied kingfisher]], but the latter is genetically closer to the American green kingfishers.


==References==
==References==
{{Commons category|Megaceryle}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Cerylinae}}
{{Cerylinae}}
{{Cavitaves|K.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1089134}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1089134}}


[[Category:Megaceryle| ]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:Megaceryle|*]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup]]

Latest revision as of 17:18, 1 January 2024

Megaceryle
A male belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Alcedinidae
Subfamily: Cerylinae
Genus: Megaceryle
Kaup, 1848
Type species
Alcedo guttatus
Vigors, 1831
Species

M. maxima
M. lugubris
M. alcyon
M. torquata

Phylogeny
Megaceryle
Cladogram based on Andersen et al. (2017)[1]

Megaceryle is a genus of very large kingfishers. They have a wide distribution in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The genus was erected by German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup in 1848.[2] The type species is a subspecies of the crested kingfisher, Megaceryle lugubris guttulata.[3] Megaceryle is from the Ancient Greek megas, "great", and the existing genus Ceryle.[4]

Species[edit]

The genus comprises four species:[5]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
M. lugubris Crested kingfisher northern India, Bangladesh, northern Indochina, Southeast Asia, and Japan
M. maxima Giant kingfisher Liberia to northern Angola and western Tanzania, island of Bioko, Senegal, and Gambia to Ethiopia and south to South Africa
M. torquata Ringed kingfisher Southeasternmost Texas in the United States through Central America to Tierra del Fuego in South America
M. alcyon Belted kingfisher North America, within Canada, Alaska, and the United States

All are specialist fish-eaters with prominent stiff crests on their heads. They have dark grey or bluish-grey upperparts, largely unmarked in the two American species, but heavily spotted with white in the Asian crested kingfisher and the African giant kingfisher. The underparts may be white or rufous, and all forms have a contrasting breast band except male ringed kingfisher. The underpart pattern is always different for the two sexes of each species.

These birds nest in horizontal tunnels made in a river bank or sand bank. Both parents excavate the tunnel, incubate the eggs, and feed the young.

Megaceryle kingfishers are often seen perched prominently on trees, posts, or other suitable watch-points close to water before plunging in headfirst after their prey, usually fish, crustaceans, or frogs, but sometimes aquatic insects and other suitably sized animals.

Origins and taxonomy[edit]

The previous view that the Megaceryle kingfishers arose in the New World from a specialist fish-eating alcedinid ancestor that crossed the Bering Strait and gave rise to this genus and the American green kingfishers Chloroceryle, with a large crested species later, in the Pliocene, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to give rise to the giant and crested kingfishers [6] is probably wrong. Rather, it now seems that the genus probably originates in the Old World, possibly Africa, and the ancestor of the belted and ringed kingfishers made the ocean crossing [7]

The Megaceryle kingfishers were formerly placed in Ceryle with the pied kingfisher, but the latter is genetically closer to the American green kingfishers.

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Megaceryle.
  1. ^ Andersen, M.J.; McCullough, J.M.; Mauck III, W.M.; Smith, B.T.; Moyle, R.G. (2017). "A phylogeny of kingfishers reveals an Indomalayan origin and elevated rates of diversification on oceanic islands". Journal of Biogeography. 45 (2): 1–13. doi:10.1111/jbi.13139.
  2. ^ Kaup, Johann Jakob (1848). "Die Familie der Eisvögel (Alcedidae)". Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins für das Großherzogthum Hessen und Umgebung (in German). 2: 68. OCLC 183221382.
  3. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 5. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 165.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 245. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Rollers, ground rollers & kingfishers". World Bird List Version 7.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. ^ C. H. Fry & Kathie Fry; illustrated by Alan Harris (2000). Kingfishers, Bee-eaters and Rollers. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04879-7.
  7. ^ Moyle, Robert G. (2006). "A molecular phylogeny of kingfishers (Alcedinidae) with insights into early biogeographic history". Auk. 123 (2): 487–499. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[487:AMPOKA]2.0.CO;2. hdl:1808/16596.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Megaceryle&oldid=1193023657"