Zosterops

In today's world, Zosterops is a topic that has captured the attention of many. Whether due to its relevance in today's society, its impact on daily life or its influence in the professional field, Zosterops is a topic that continues to generate interest and debate. For years, Zosterops has been the subject of study, discussion and analysis, and its importance has not stopped growing over time. In this article, we will explore the different aspects of Zosterops, its evolution over the years and its relevance today. Through various approaches and perspectives, we will shed light on this topic that has caused so much talk.

Zosterops
Z. palpebrosus egregius, Sri Lanka
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Zosteropidae
Genus: Zosterops
Vigors & Horsfield, 1827
Type species
Motacilla maderaspatana (Malagasy white-eye)
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See text

Zosterops (meaning "eye-girdle") is a genus of passerine birds containing the typical white-eyes in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The genus has the largest number of species in the white-eye family. They occur in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian realms. Typical white-eyes have a length of between 8 and 15 cm (3 and 6 in). Their most characteristic feature is a conspicuous white feather ring around the eye, though some species lack it. The species in this group vary in the structural adaptations of the tongue.[1] The Zosterops group is an example of a "great speciator" inhabiting a vast area and showing a remarkable morphological differentiation on islands, some of which may be as close as 2 km (1.2 mi) apart.[2]

Systematics

The genus Zosterops was introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827.[3] The name combines the Ancient Greek words zōstēros "belt" or "girdle" and ōpos "eye".[4] The type species was designated as the Malagasy white-eye by René Lesson in 1828.[5][6]

The results of a series of molecular phylogenetic studies of the Zosteropidae published between 2014 and 2018 prompted a major revision of species limits, in which 10 new genera were introduced. In the reorganisation, the English names of three of the existing genera were replaced.[7][8][9][10][11]

Additionally, a study on Sri Lanka white-eyes (Zosterops ceylonensis) and Indian white-eyes (Zosterops palpebrosus) suggests that the Sri Lanka white-eye is the root species and the origin of all Zosterops species.[12] This raises questions upon the former theory of Southeast Asian origin.

Species

Black-capped white-eye
Z. atricapilla
Mauritius grey white-eye
Zosterops mauritianus
Mauritius olive white-eye
Zosterops chloronothos

There are over 100 species in the genus. This includes three species (denoted by a dagger † in the list below) that have become extinct since the 16th century.[11]

References

  1. ^ Moreau, R. E.; Perrins, M.; Hughes, J. T. (1969). "Tongues of the Zosteropidae (white-eyes)". Ardea. 57: 29–47.
  2. ^ Moyle, R. G.; Filardi, C. E.; Smith, C. E.; Diamond, J. (2009). "Explosive Pleistocene diversification and hemispheric expansion of a "great speciator"". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106 (6): 1863–1868. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.1863M. doi:10.1073/pnas.0809861105. PMC 2644129. PMID 19181851.
  3. ^ Vigors, Nicholas Aylward; Horsfield, Thomas (1826). "Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (in English and Latin). 15 (1) (published 1827): 170–334 . doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1826.tb00115.x. The title page is dated 1826.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 414. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Lesson, René P. (1828). Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Description des genres et des principales espèces d'oiseaux (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Roret. p. 286.
  6. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 290.
  7. ^ Cox, S.C.; Prys-Jones, R.P.; Habel, J.C.; Amakobe, B.A.; Day, J.J. (2014). "Niche divergence promotes rapid diversification of East African sky island white-eyes (Aves: Zosteropidae)". Molecular Ecology. 23 (16): 4103–4118. Bibcode:2014MolEc..23.4103C. doi:10.1111/mec.12840. PMC 4255762. PMID 24954273.
  8. ^ Wells, D.R. (2017). "Zosterops white-eyes in continental South-East Asia. 1: proposed refinements to the regional definition of Oriental White-eye Z. palpebrosus". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 137 (2): 100–109. doi:10.25226/bboc.v137i2.2017.a12.
  9. ^ Wells, D.R. (2017). "Zosterops white-eyes in continental South-East Asia. 2: what is Zosterops auriventer Hume?". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 137 (2): 110–117. doi:10.25226/bboc.v137i2.2017.a13.
  10. ^ Lim, B.T.M.; Sadanandan, K.R.; Dingle, C.; Leung, Y.Y.; Prawiradilaga, D.M.; Irham, M.; Ashari, H.; Lee, J.G.H.; Rheindt, F.E. (2018). "Molecular evidence suggests radical revision of species limits in the great speciator white‑eye genus Zosterops". Journal of Ornithology. 160: 1–16. doi:10.1007/s10336-018-1583-7. S2CID 254162519.
  11. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  12. ^ Wickramasinghe, Nelum; Robin, V. V.; Ramakrishnan, Uma; Reddy, Sushma; Seneviratne, Sampath S. (2017). "Non-sister Sri Lankan white-eyes (genus Zosterops) are a result of independent colonizations". PLOS ONE. 12 (8): e0181441. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1281441W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181441. PMC 5549887. PMID 28792950.
  13. ^ a b c d "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List". Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  14. ^ Anderson, Natali (2022-10-21). "Newly-Described Bird Species is Endemic to Indonesian Island | Sci.News". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
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