Hypsipetes is agenus ofbulbuls,songbirds in thefamily Pycnonotidae. Most of itsspecies occur intropical forests around the Indian Ocean. But while the genus is quite diverse in the Madagascar region at the western end of its range it does not reach the African mainland.
MostHypsipetes bulbuls are dark greyish birds with orange or red bills and feet. The feathers on top of the head are slightly elongated and usually black, and can be erected to form a short and wispy crest.
The genusHypsipetes was introduced in 1831 by the Irish zoologistNicholas Aylward Vigors withHypsipetes psaroides as thetype species.[1] This taxon is now a subspecies of theblack bulbulHypsipetes leucocephalus psaroides.[2][3] The genus name combines theAncient Greekhupsi meaning "high" withpetēs meaning "-flyer".[4]
Mountain bulbul (asHypsipetes mcclellandi orHypsipetes mcclellandii)[15] was often included inHypsipetes due to an error that was promoted in modern times by theSibley taxonomy[16]
^abThree species formerly assigned toThapsinillas were moved toHypsipetes after molecular phylogenetic analysis foundHypsipetes affinis embedded in theHypsipetes clade.[5][3]
^A species formerly placed in the monotypoc genusCerasophila was moved toHypsipetes after molecular phylogenetic analysis found embedded in theHypsipetes clade.[5][3]
^Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1831)."Hypsipetes".Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London.1 (4): 43.
^abcdGill, Frank; Donsker, David;Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024)."Bulbuls".IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved5 September 2024.
^Jobling, James A. (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 200.ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
Gregory, Steven M. (2000): Nomenclature of theHypsipetes Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae).Forktail16: 164–166.PDF fulltext
Moyle, Robert G. & Marks, Ben D. (2006): Phylogenetic relationships of the bulbuls (Aves: Pycnonotidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data.Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.40(3): 687–695.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.04.015 (HTML abstract)
Pasquet, Éric; Han, Lian-Xian; Khobkhet, Obhas & Cibois, Alice (2001): Towards a molecular systematics of the genusCriniger, and a preliminary phylogeny of the bulbuls (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae).Zoosystema23(4): 857–863.PDF fulltext
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