Green toucanet

Green toucanets[1] are near-passerine birds from the genus Aulacorhynchus in the toucan family. They are native to Mexico, and Central and South America. All are found in humid forests and woodlands in highlands, but a few also occur in adjacent lowlands.[2] They are relatively small toucans, 30–44 centimetres (12–17 in) long, with colorful, mainly green, plumage.[2] They are typically seen in pairs or small groups, and sometimes follow mixed species flocks.[3]

Green toucanet
Emerald toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Ramphastidae
Genus:	Aulacorhynchus Gould, 1835
Species
see text
Synonyms
Aulacorhamphus

Taxonomy and systematics

A major taxonomy review in 1974 resulted in 6 species in the genus Aulacorhynchus,[4] and this was adopted by virtually all later authorities.[2][5][6][7][8]

In 2001, it was suggested that A. prasinus, as traditionally defined, was a species complex that should be split into 7 different species based on preliminary morphological evidence.[9] This was to some extent supported by genetic evidence, which suggested that additional species should be recognized. As a result, A. griseigularis was split from in A. albivitta based on this early genetic evidence but these species are now lumped together again.[10][11]

Currently, there remains a considerable lack of consensus to support the IOC's latest taxonomy of Aulacorhynchus into eleven species.[12] Several authorities still maintain that the genus Aulacorhynchus has only 7 species and treat the remaining as subspecies.[7][8] The SACC has called for further genetic studies of this genus.[5]

Species

The genus Aulacorhynchus has eleven species considered to belong to the genus:

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Aulacorhynchus wagleri	Wagler's toucanet	Sierra Madre del Sur of Guerrero and Oaxaca in south-western Mexico
	Aulacorhynchus prasinus	Emerald toucanet	Mexico and Central America
	Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis	Blue-throated toucanet	Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia
	Aulacorhynchus albivitta	White-throated toucanet	Andes from western Venezuela, through Colombia to northern Ecuador
	Aulacorhynchus atrogularis	Black-throated toucanet	central Ecuador to western Bolivia
	Aulacorhynchus sulcatus	Groove-billed toucanet	eastern Colombia and northern Venezuela
	Aulacorhynchus derbianus	Chestnut-tipped toucanet	Colombia to central Bolivia
	Aulacorhynchus whitelianus	Tepui toucanet	Guiana
	Aulacorhynchus haematopygus	Crimson-rumped toucanet	Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela
	Aulacorhynchus huallagae	Yellow-browed toucanet	east Andean slope in northern Peru.
	Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis	Blue-banded toucanet	Bolivia and Peru.

References

1. Boyd, J. (2011). Ramphastidae: Toucans. Accessed 20 May 2011
2. Short, L. L., & Horne, J. F. M. (2002). Toucans (Ramphastidae). pp. 220-272 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (2002). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 7 Jacamars to Woodpecker. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-37-7
3. Restall, R. L., Rodner, C., & Lentino, M. (2006). Birds of Northern South America. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-7243-9 (vol. 1). ISBN 0-7136-7242-0 (vol. 2).
4. Haffer, J. (1974). Avian speciation in tropical South America. Publ. Nuttall Ornithol. Club 14: 1–390.
5. Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, J. Pérez-Emán, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer (2011). A classification of the bird species of South America: Trogoniformes to Piciformes. Archived 2011-09-12 at the Wayback Machine American Ornithologists' Union. Accessed 25 May 2011
6. Fjeldså, J., and Krabbe, N. (1990). Birds of the High Andes. ISBN 87-88757-16-1
7. Dickinson, E. C., eds. (2003). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd edition. ISBN 0-7136-6536-X
8. Clement, J. F. (2007, w. online updates). The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. 6th edition. ISBN 978-0-7136-8695-1
9. Navarro, A., Peterson, A., López-Medrano, E., and Benítez-Díaz, H. (2001). Species limits in Mesoamerican Aulocorhynchus Toucanets. The Wilson Bull. 113(4): 363-372
10. Bonaccorso, E., Guayasamin, J. M., Peterson, A. T., and Navarro-Sigüenza, A. G. (2011). Molecular phylogeny and systematics of Neotropical toucanets in the genus Aulacorhynchus (Aves, Ramphastidae). Zoologica Scripta, 40. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00475.x
11. Puebla-Olivares, F., E. Bonaccorso, A. E. de los Monteros, K. E. Omland, J. E. Llorente-Bousquets, A. T. Peterson, and A.G. Navarro-Siguenza. (2008). Speciation in the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus) complex. The Auk. 125(1): 39-50.
12. "IOC World Bird List 6.4". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.6.4.