Mellisuga
Mellisuga is a genus of hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae. They are notable for being the first and second smallest bird species in the world.
| Mellisuga | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mellisuga helenae | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Order: | Apodiformes |
| Family: | Trochilidae |
| Tribe: | Mellisugini |
| Genus: | Mellisuga Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Trochilus minimus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the vervain hummingbird as the type species.[1][2] The name Mellisuga is a combination of the Latin words mel or mellis, meaning "honey" and sugere, meaning "to suck".[3]
Extant species
The genus contains two species:[4]
| Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
_adult_male_non-breeding.jpg.webp) | M. helenae | Bee hummingbird | Cuba and Isla de la Juventud |
.jpg.webp) | M. minima | Vervain hummingbird | Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Jamaica |
References
- Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 1. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 40, Vol. 3, p. 694.
- Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 135.
- Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Hummingbirds". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
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