The genusOriolus was erected in 1766 by the Swedish naturalistCarl Linnaeus in the12th edition of hisSystema Naturae.[2] Thetype species is, bytautonomy,Oriolus galbula Linnaeus, 1766. This is ajunior synonym ofCoracias oriolus Linnaeus, 1758, theEurasian golden oriole.[3] In 1760, French ornithologistMathurin Jacques Brisson in hisOrnithologie usedOriolus as a subdivision of the genusTurdus,[4] but theInternational Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled in 1955 that "Oriolus Brisson, 1760" should be suppressed.[5] Linnaeus added more than a dozen additional genera when he updated his 10th edition, but he generally based new genera on those that had been introduced by Brisson in hisOrnithologie.Oriolus is now the only genus for which Linnaeus's 12th edition is cited as the original publication.[6][7] The name is derived from the old French wordoriol, which is echoic in origin, derived from the call of the bird,[8] but some authors have suggested origins in classical Latinaureolus meaning "golden". Various forms of "oriole" have existed inRomance languages since the 12th and 13th centuries.[9]
Relatedness of species within the genus: Two forms that have not been included in the sequencing and analysis areO. crassirostris, which is expected to be close toO. brachyrhynchus, andO. tenuirostris, which is expected to be close toO. diffusus[10]
^Allen, J.A. (1910). "Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus".Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.28:317–335.hdl:2246/678.