Amazilia

Not to be confused with Amazilia hummingbird.

Amazilia is a hummingbird genus in the subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in tropical Central and South America.

Amazilia
Rufous-tailed hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Strisores
Order:	Apodiformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Tribe:	Trochilini
Genus:	Amazilia Lesson, RP, 1843
Type species
Ornismya cinnamomea[1] = Ornismia rutila Lesson, 1842
Species
see text

Taxonomy

The genus Amazilia was introduced in 1843 by the French naturalist René Lesson.^[2] Lesson had used amazilia in 1827 as the specific epithet of the amazilia hummingbird which is now the only species placed in the genus Amazilis.^[3][4] The name comes from the Inca heroine in Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas, ou la destruction de l'Empire du Pérou.^[5][6] The type species was subsequently designated as the cinnamon hummingbird.^[7][8]

The genus contains four species:^[4]

• Cinnamon hummingbird, Amazilia rutila
• Buff-bellied hummingbird, Amazilia yucatanensis
• Rufous-tailed hummingbird, Amazilia tzacatl
• Honduran emerald, Amazilia luciae

An additional species is sometimes included:

• Guanacaste hummingbird, Amazilia alfaroana (disputed)

This genus formerly included many more species. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the large genus was polyphyletic.^[9] In the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, species were moved to Leucolia, Saucerottia, Amazilis, Uranomitra, Chrysuronia, Polyerata, Chionomesa, Elliotomyia and Chlorestes.^[4][10]

References

1. "Trochilidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
2. Lesson, René (1843). "Ornithologie: Complément à l'histoire naturelle des oiseaux-mouches". L'Echo du Monde Savant (in French). Part 2 (32). Col. 755–758 (757).
3. Lesson, René P.; Garnot, Prosper (1827). Voyage autour du monde : exécuté par ordre du roi, sur la corvette de Sa Majesté, la Coquille, pendant les années 1822, 1823, 1824, et 1825 (in French). Vol. 1, Livre 4. Plate 31, Fig 3. For the date of publication see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Hummingbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
5. Lesson, René P. (1828). Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Description des genres et des principales espèces d'oiseaux (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Roret. p. 81.
6. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
7. Stone, Witmer (1918). "Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 70: 239–280 [256].
8. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 61.
9. McGuire, J.; Witt, C.; Remsen, J.V.; Corl, A.; Rabosky, D.; Altshuler, D.; Dudley, R. (2014). "Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds". Current Biology. 24 (8): 910–916. Bibcode:2014CBio...24..910M. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016. PMID 24704078.
10. Stiles, F.G.; Remsen, J.V. Jr.; Mcguire, J.A. (2017). "The generic classification of the Trochilini (Aves: Trochilidae): Reconciling taxonomy with phylogeny". Zootaxa. 4353 (3): 401–424. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4353.3.1. PMID 29245495.