Aracari

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.

Aracaris
Pale-mandibled aracari Pteroglossus erythropygius
Scientific 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

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:

• Wagler's toucanet (as Pteroglossus wagleri)^[13]
• Emerald toucanet (as Pteroglossus prasinus)^[14]
• White-throated toucanet (as Pteroglossus albivitta)^[15]
• Black-throated toucanet (as Pteroglossus atrogularis)^[16]
• Groove-billed toucanet (as Pteroglossus sulcatus)^[17]
• Crimson-rumped toucanet (as Pteroglossus haematopygus)^[18]
• Guianan toucanet (as Pteroglossus Culik)^[19]
• Golden-collared toucanet (as Pteroglossus reinwardtii)^[20]
• Langsdorff's toucanet (as Pteroglossus langsdorffii)^[21]
• Tawny-tufted toucanet (as Pteroglossus nattereri)^[22]
• Gould's toucanet (as Pteroglossus gouldii)^[23]
• Spot-billed toucanet (as Pteroglossus maculirostris)^[24]
• Gray-breasted mountain toucan (as Pteroglossus hypoglaucus)^[25]
• Hooded mountain toucan (as Pteroglossus cucullatus)^[26]
• Black-billed mountain toucan (as Pteroglossus nigrirostris)^[27]

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