Trichoglossus
| Trichoglossus | |
|---|---|
_on_fence,_Sydney.jpg) |
|
|
Rainbow lorikeet (T. h. moluccanus) perching on a garden fence in Sydney, Australia |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Superfamily: | Psittacoidea |
| Family: | Psittaculidae |
| Subfamily: | Loriinae |
| Tribe: | Loriini |
| Genus: |
Trichoglossus Stephens, 1826 |
Trichoglossus is a genus of lorikeet in the Psittaculidae or true parrot superfamily. The genus is distributed widely through Australia, Wallacea and Melanesia, with outliers in the Philippines and Micronesia. Members of the genus are characterised by barring, sometimes prominently, on the upper breast.
The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek terms tricho- "hair", and glõssa "tongue". There are uncertainties in the classification. The main uncertainty is the delineation of the species Trichoglossus haematodus, which has until now been broadly defined with many subspecies. However several are found in remote areas and have been little studied, with some arguing for their classification as separate species. Furthermore, the three species of the related genus Psitteuteles have been sometimes classified as members of Trichoglossus.
The genus contains several species and subspecies:
Trichoglossus Stephens 1826
The rainbow lorikeet has about 20 subspecies in some classifications; although, several of these are sometimes split off to form up to four additional species: The parentheses in the scientific names of the birds in the table are used to indicate that a taxon is sometimes considered to be a full species and sometimes listed as a subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet.
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