Aracari

Aracaris
Pale-mandibled aracari
Pteroglossus erythropygius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Ramphastidae
Genus: Pteroglossus
Illiger, 1811
Type species
Ramphastos aracari (black-necked aracari)
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

14 (incl. the saffron toucanet), see text.

Synonyms
List
  • Aracarius Rafinesque, 1815
  • Aracari Lesson, 1828
  • Grammarhynchus Gould, 1854
  • Grammatorhynchus [missp.] Bonaparte, 1854
  • Pyrosterna Bonaparte, 1854
  • Baillonius Cassin, 1868
  • Baillonicus [missp.] Klös, 1970
  • Beauharnaisius Bonaparte, 1850
  • Bauharnaisius [missp.] Bonaparte, 1850
  • Beauharnasius [missp.] Gould, 1854
  • Beauharnesius [missp.] Bonaparte, 1854
  • Beauharnisius [missp.] Sundevall, 1873
  • Ulocomus Heine, 1890

An aracari or araçari (US: /ˌɑːrəˈsɑːri/ AR-ə-SAR-ee,[1] UK: /ˌærəˈsɑːri/ ARR-ə-SAR-ee, /-ˈkɑːri/ -⁠KAR-ee)[2] is any of the medium-sized toucans that, together with the saffron toucanet, make up the genus Pteroglossus.

They are brightly plumaged and have enormous, contrastingly patterned bills. These birds are residents in forests and woodlands in the Neotropics.

Taxonomy

The genus Pteroglossus was introduced in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger.[3] The name combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "feather" with glōssa meaning "tongue".[4] George Robert Gray designated the black-necked aracari as the type species of the genus in 1840.[5][6]

The name "Aracari" was used in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave for the black-necked aracari in his book Historia Naturalis Brasiliae.[7] The name comes from the word Arassari, the name of the bird in the Tupi language.[8]

One species, the distinctive saffron toucanet, was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Baillonius, but Renato Kimura and collaborators showed in 2004 that it belongs in the genus Pteroglossus.[9][10]

A 2010 molecular phylogenetic study by Swati Patel and collaborators found that the brown-mandibled aracari was nested with the subspecies of the ivory-billed aracari:[11]

Pteroglossus

Saffron toucanet (Pteroglossus bailloni)

Green aracari (Pteroglossus viridis)

Lettered aracari (Pteroglossus inscriptus)

Collared aracari (Pteroglossus torquatus)

Fiery-billed aracari (Pteroglossus frantzii)

Pale-mandibled aracari (Pteroglossus erythropygius)

Stripe-billed aracari (Pteroglossus sanguineus)

Black-necked aracari (Pteroglossus aracari)

Many-banded aracari (Pteroglossus pluricinctus)

Chestnut-eared aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis)

Ivory-billed aracari (Pteroglossus azara azara)

Ivory-billed aracari (Pteroglossus azara flavirostris)

Brown-mandibled aracari (Pteroglossus mariae)

Curl-crested aracari (Pteroglossus beauharnaeslii)

Red-necked aracari (Pteroglossus bitorquatus)

Extant species

Fourteen species are considered to belong to the genus Pteroglossus:[12]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Pteroglossus viridis Green aracari lowland forests of northeastern South America (the Guiana Shield), in the northeast Amazon Basin, the Guianas and the eastern Orinoco River drainage of Venezuela
Pteroglossus inscriptus Lettered aracari Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Pteroglossus bitorquatus Red-necked aracari Bolivia and Brazil
Pteroglossus azara Ivory-billed aracari Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Pteroglossus mariae Brown-mandibled aracari Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru
Pteroglossus aracari Black-necked aracari Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela
Pteroglossus castanotis Chestnut-eared aracari Amazon Basin, Paraguay, Bolivia, southeastern Brazil and the extreme northeast of Argentina
Pteroglossus pluricinctus Many-banded aracari Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Pteroglossus torquatus Collared aracari southern Mexico to Panama; also Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Costa Rica
Pteroglossus sanguineus Stripe-billed aracari Colombia and Ecuador
Pteroglossus erythropygius Pale-mandibled aracari Ecuador and Peru
Pteroglossus frantzii Fiery-billed aracari southern Costa Rica and western Panama
Pteroglossus beauharnaisii Curl-crested aracari Amazon Basin
Pteroglossus bailloni Saffron toucanet Brazil

Former species

Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize additional species or subspecies as species belonging to the genus Pteroglossus including:

Behaviour and ecology

Some species of aracaris are unusual for toucans in that they roost socially throughout the year, up to six adults and fledged young sleeping in the same hole with tails folded over their backs.

Breeding

They are arboreal and nest in tree holes laying 2–4 white eggs.

Food and feeding

All the species are basically fruit-eating, but will take insects and other small prey.

Threats

The ischnoceran louse Austrophilopterus flavirostris is suspected to parasitize most if not all species of aracaris, with the possible exception of the green aracari (Price & Weckstein 2005).

References

  1. ^ "Aracari". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.). Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  2. ^ "Definition for aracari". Oxford Dictionaries Online. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  3. ^ Illiger, Johann Karl Wilhelm (1811). Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium (in Latin). Berolini [Berlin]: Sumptibus C. Salfeld. p. 202.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 322. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 50.
  6. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1948). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 74.
  7. ^ Marcgrave, Georg (1648). Historia Naturalis Brasiliae: Liber Quintus: Qui agit de Avibus (in Latin). Lugdun and Batavorum (London and Leiden): Franciscum Hackium and Elzevirium. p. 217.
  8. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. ^ Kimura, R.K.; Pereira, S.L.; Grau, E.T.; Höfling, E.; Wajntal, A. (2004). "Genetic distances and phylogenetic analysis suggest that Baillonius Cassin, 1867 is a Pteroglossus Illiger, 1811 (Piciformes: Ramphastidae)". Ornitologia Neotropical. 15: 527–537.
  10. ^ Remsen, J.V. Jr (2004). "Proposal 151: Merge Baillonius into Pteroglossus". South American Classification Committee, American Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  11. ^ Patel, S.; Weckstein, J.D.; Patané, J.S.L.; Bates, J.M.; Aleixo, A. (2011). "Temporal and spatial diversification of Pteroglossus araçaris (AVES: Ramphastidae) in the neotropics: Constant rate of diversification does not support an increase in radiation during the Pleistocene". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 58 (1): 105–115. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.10.016.
  12. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Jacamars, puffbirds, barbets, toucans, honeyguides". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Aulacorhynchus wagleri - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  14. ^ "Aulacorhynchus prasinus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  15. ^ "Aulacorhynchus albivitta - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  16. ^ "Aulacorhynchus atrogularis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-25.
  17. ^ "Aulacorhynchus sulcatus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-25.
  18. ^ "Aulacorhynchus haematopygus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-25.
  19. ^ "Selenidera piperivora - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  20. ^ "Selenidera reinwardtii - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  21. ^ "Selenidera reinwardtii langsdorffii - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  22. ^ "Selenidera nattereri - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  23. ^ "Selenidera gouldii - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  24. ^ "Selenidera maculirostris - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  25. ^ "Andigena hypoglauca - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  26. ^ "Andigena cucullata - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  27. ^ "Andigena nigrirostris - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  • Price, Roger D. & Weckstein, Jason D. (2005): The genus Austrophilopterus Ewing (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) from toucans, toucanets, and araçaris (Piciformes: Ramphastidae). Zootaxa 918: 1–18. PDF fulltext
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