Phalacrocorax
| Phalacrocorax | |
|---|---|
| |
| Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | Phalacrocorax Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Pelecanus carbo | |
| Species | |
|
12, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Phalacrocorax is a genus of fish-eating birds in the cormorant family Phalacrocoracidae. Members of this genus are also known as the Old World cormorants.
Taxonomy[edit]
The genus Phalacrocorax was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) as the type species.[1][2] Phalacrocorax is the Latin word for a "cormorant".[3]
Formerly, many other species of cormorant were classified in Phalacrocorax, but most of these have been split out into different genera. A 2014 study found Phalacrocrax to be the sister genus to Urile, which are thought to have split from each other between 8.9 - 10.3 million years ago.[4]
Current taxonomy[edit]
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus Phalacrocorax contains 12 species.[4] This taxonomy was adopted by the IUCN Red List and BirdLife International, and later by the IOC.[5]
- Bank cormorant or Wahlberg's cormorant, Phalacrocorax neglectus
- Socotra cormorant, Phalacrocorax nigrogularis
- Pitt shag or Featherstone's shag, Phalacrocorax featherstoni
- Spotted shag, Phalacrocorax punctatus
- Black-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscescens
- Australian pied cormorant or yellow-faced cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius
- Little black cormorant, Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
- Indian cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
- Cape cormorant, Phalacrocorax capensis
- Japanese cormorant or Temminck's cormorant, Phalacrocorax capillatus
- White-breasted cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus
- Great cormorant or black shag, Phalacrocorax carbo
Alternative taxonomies[edit]
Formerly, the genus Phalacrocorax included all members of the genera Poikilocarbo, Urile, Gulosus, Nannopterum, and the rock shag of Leucocarbo, all of which are now understood to belong to different genera.[6]
The taxonomy adopted by the Clements Checklist classifies all cormorants aside from those already in Microcarbo into Phalacrocorax, leaving just two cormorant genera: Phalacrocorax and Microcarbo.
References[edit]
- ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 60, Vol. 6, p. 511.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 163.
- ^ Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- ^ a b "Classification of the cormorants of the world". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 249–257. 2014-10-01. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.020. ISSN 1055-7903.
- ^ "Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-07-28.
- ^ Kennedy, M.; Spencer, H.G. (2014). "Classification of the cormorants of the world". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 79: 249–257. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.020. PMID 24994028.
