Gould's Emerald Hummingbird
| Gould's Emerald Hummingbird | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chlorostilbon elegans , illustration by John Gould |
||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Chlorostilbon elegans | ||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1860) |
The Gould's Emerald Hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon elegans ) is a little-known extinct species of hummingbird from the genus of the Emerald Hummingbird , which was described and drawn by John Gould in 1860 under the name Erythronota elegans . It is known only from a single specimen of unknown origin, which is kept in the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in Tring . According to Gould's description, the hummingbird had a glittering light green hood. The throat and chest were bronze green. The Gould's Emerald Hummingbird was long considered a dubious species. Only after an examination of the museum specimen by the German ornithologist André-Alexander Weller in 1999 was the Gould's Emerald Hummingbird recognized as a valid species and in 2004 included in the list of extinct bird species by the IUCN. Weller suspects Jamaica or the northern Bahamas as the area of origin of the species.
Etymology and history of research
John Gould described the hummingbird under the name Erythronota (?) Elegans . Gould did not know who collected the type specimen or where it lived. A year later Gould published the accompanying table. It was part of the 24th shipment of his hummingbird tablets. Only later was it assigned to the genus Chlorostilbon . This name is made up of the Greek words "chlōros χλωρός " for "green" and "stilbōn στίλβων " for "shining". The Greeks gave Mercury the nickname Stilbōn, which can be traced back to »stilbē στιλβη « for »lamp«. The Latin »elegans« means »fine, tasty, elegant«.
literature
- James A. Jobling: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm, London 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4 .
- André-Alexander Weller: On types of trochilids in The Natural History Museum, Tring II. Re-evaluation of Erythronota (?) Elegans Gould 1860: a presumed extinct species in the genus Chlorostilbon . In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . tape 119 , no. 3 , 1999, p. 197-202 ( online [accessed July 17, 2014]).
- John Gould: Description of Twenty-two new Species of Humming Birds . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 28 , no. 3 , 1860, p. 304-312 ( online [accessed July 16, 2014]).
- John Gould: A monograph of the Trochilidæ, or family of humming-birds . tape 5 , delivery 24. Taylor and Francis, London 1861 ( online [accessed July 17, 2014]).
- Frederick Herschel Waterhouse: The dates of publication of some of the zoological works of the late John Gould, FRS RH Porter, London 1885 ( online [accessed July 17, 2014]).
Web links
- Chlorostilbon elegans inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Gould's Emerald ( Chlorostilbon elegans ) . Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- Elegant Emerald ( Chlorostilbon elegans ) at Avibase; Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- Chlorostilbon elegans in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- Gould's Emerald Hummingbird (Chlorostilbon elegans) in the Encyclopedia of Life . Retrieved August 28, 2017.