Buceros

Buceros is a genus of large Asian hornbills (family Bucerotidae).

Buceros
Rhinoceros hornbill Buceros rhinoceros
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Bucerotiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Buceros Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Buceros rhinoceros (rhinoceros hornbill) Linnaeus, 1758
Species
See text.
Synonyms
Hydrocorax Brisson, 1760

Description

Hornbills in the genus Buceros include some of the largest arboreal hornbills in the world, with the largest being the great hornbill. All the hornbills in this genus have a large and hollow bony casque on their upper beak that can be useful to scientists and bird watchers to recognise their age, sex and species. Their wingspan can be up to 1.8 meters (6 foot) and they have the largest wingspan out of all the hornbills.

Taxonomy

The genus Buceros was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.^[1] The name is from Latin becerus meaning "horned like an ox" which in turn is from the Ancient Greek boukerōs which combines bous meaning "ox" with kerōs meaning "horn".^[2] The type species was designated as the rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) by Daniel Giraud Elliot in 1882.^[3][4]

Species

The genus contains three species:^[5]

Genus Buceros – Linnaeus, 1758 – three species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Rhinoceros hornbill	Buceros rhinoceros Linnaeus, 1758 Three subspecies B. r. borneoensis Schlegel & Müller, S, 1845 – Borneo B. r. rhinoceros Linnaeus, 1758 – south Malay Peninsula and Sumatra B. r. silvestris Vieillot, 1816 – Java	Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and southern Thailand	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU
Great hornbill	Buceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758	India, Bhutan, Nepal, Mainland Southeast Asia, Indonesian Island of Sumatra and North eastern region of India	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU
Rufous hornbill	Buceros hydrocorax Linnaeus, 1756 Three subspecies B. h. hydrocorax: Luzon and Marinduque B. h. semigaelatus:Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Panaon, Biliran, Calicoan and Buad B. h. mindanensis: Dinagat, Siargao, Mindanao	Philippines	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU

The helmeted hornbill is sometimes included in this genus, but today most authorities place it in the monotypic Rhinoplax instead.

References

1. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 104.
2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
3. Elliot, Daniel Giraud (1882). A Monograph of the Bucerotidae, or Family of the Hornbills. Published for the subscribers by the author. p. xvi.
4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 270.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, trogons, hoopoes, hornbills". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

• Kemp, A. C. (2001). Family Bucerotidae (Hornbills). pp. 436–523 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (2001). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-30-X