Biology:Cacomantis

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Cacomantis is a genus of cuckoos in the family Cuculidae. The name is from the Ancient Greek κακομαντις (kakomantis) meaning "prophet of evil". Most species have a round nostril and are mainly in brown and gray colours. The tails are graduated and barred. The bars are transverse in sonneratii and oblique in all others.[1]

Taxonomy

The genus Cacomantis was introduced in 1843 by the German naturalist Salomon Müller.[2] He did not specify a type species; this was subsequently designated as Cuculus flavus Gmelin, a junior synonym of Cuculus merulinus Scopoli (the plaintive cuckoo).[3][4] The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kakomantis meaning "prophet of doom".[5] Müller explained that local people on the Maluku Islands thought of these species as "birds of misfortune" due to their mournful calls and their frequent presence in cemeteries.[2]

Species

The genus contains 11 species:[6]

Image Scientific name Common name Distribution
125px  Cacomantis castaneiventris Chestnut-breasted cuckoo New Guinea and Cape York peninsula
125px  Cacomantis flabelliformis Fan-tailed cuckoo Australia and Melanesia
125px  Cacomantis sonneratii Banded bay cuckoo Indomalaya
125px  Cacomantis merulinus Plaintive cuckoo Southeast Asia
125px  Cacomantis passerinus Grey-bellied cuckoo South Asia
-  Cacomantis sepulcralis Sunda brush cuckoo Malesia
-  Cacomantis virescens Sulawesi brush cuckoo Sulawesi
125px  Cacomantis variolosus Sahul brush cuckoo Southeast Asia to Victoria and Solomon Islands
-  Cacomantis blandus Manus brush cuckoo Ninigo and Admiralty Islands
-  Cacomantis addendus Solomons brush cuckoo Solomon Islands archipelago
125px  Cacomantis aeruginosus Moluccan brush cuckoo Moluccas

The pallid cuckoo (Heteroscenes pallidus) and the white-crowned cuckoo (Caliechthrus leucolophus) were formerly placed in this genus. They are now each placed in their own monotypic genus.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Payne, RB (2005). The Cuckoos. Oxford University Press. p. 422
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Müller, Salomon (1843) (in Dutch). Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis. 1: Land-en Volkenkunde. Leiden: In commissie bij. S. en J. Luchtmans en C.C. van der Hoek. p. 177, Footnote. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56902015. 
  3. ↑ Salvadori, Tommaso (1880) (in Italian). Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle Molucche. 1. Torino: G.B. Paravia. p. 331. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52807643. 
  4. ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed (1940). Check-List of Birds of the World. 4. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 22. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476474. 
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds (August 2024). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/turacos/. 

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