Pygochelidon

Pygochelidon is a genus of birds in the swallow family Hirundinidae that occur in the Neotropics.

Pygochelidon
Blue-and-white swallow (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Hirundinidae
Genus:	Pygochelidon Baird, SF, 1865
Type species
Hirundo cyanoleuca blue-and-white swallow Vieillot, 1817

Taxonomy

The genus Pygochelidon was introduced in 1865 by the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird with the blue-and-white swallow as the type species.^[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek pugē meaning "rump" with khelidōn meaning "swallow".^[2]

This genus was formerly treated as a junior synonym of the genus Notiochelidon.^[3] It was resurrected to contain a clade of two species based on a genetic study published in 2005.^[4][5]

Species

The genus contains two species:^[5]

• Blue-and-white swallow (Pygochelidon cyanoleuca)
• Black-collared swallow (Pygochelidon melanoleuca)

References

1. Baird, Spencer F. (1864). Review of American Birds in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Vol. Part 1, North and Middle America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 270, 308.
2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 326. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
3. Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 88.
4. Sheldon, F.H.; Whittingham, L.A.; Moyle, R.G.; Slikas, B.; Winkler, D.W. (2005). "Phylogeny of swallows (Aves: Hirundinidae) estimated from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequencing". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 35 (1): 254–270. Bibcode:2005MolPE..35..254S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.11.008. PMID 15737595.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Swallows". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 July 2021.