Editing Rainbow lorikeet (section)

== Taxonomy ==
The rainbow lorikeet was formally listed in 1788 by the German naturalist [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin]] under the [[binomial name]] ''Psittacus moluccanus''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1788 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis Volume 1, Part 1| volume=Tomus 1 | edition=13th | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=316 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25751536 }}</ref> Gmelin cited the French polymath [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]] who in 1779 had published a description of "La Perruche à Face Bleu" in his ''Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Buffon | first=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | year=1780 | title=Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux | volume=6 | location=Paris | publisher=De l'Imprimerie Royale | page=278 | chapter=La Perruche à Face Bleu | language=French | chapter-url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1069718q/f190.item }}</ref> The species was illustrated as the "Peluche des Moluques"<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Buffon | first1=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author1-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | last2=Martinet | first2=François-Nicolas | author2-link=François-Nicolas Martinet | last3=Daubenton | first3=Edme-Louis  | author3-link=Edme-Louis Daubenton | last4=Daubenton | first4=Louis-Jean-Marie | author4-link=Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton | year=1765–1783 | chapter=Perruche d'Amboine | title=Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle | volume=1 | location=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | at=Plate 61 | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53103355 }}</ref> and as the "Perruche d'Amboine".<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Buffon | first1=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author1-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | last2=Martinet | first2=François-Nicolas | author2-link=François-Nicolas Martinet | last3=Daubenton | first3=Edme-Louis  | author3-link=Edme-Louis Daubenton | last4=Daubenton | first4=Louis-Jean-Marie | author4-link=Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton | year=1765–1783 | chapter=Perruche d'Amboine | title=Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle | volume=8 | location=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | at=Plate 743 | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35218381 }}</ref> Gmelin was misled and coined the specific epithet ''moluccanus '' as he believed the specimens had come from the [[Maluku Islands|Moluccas]]. The [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] was changed to [[Botany Bay]] in Australia by [[Gregory Mathews]] in 1916.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Mathews | first=Gregory | author-link=Gregory Mathews | year=1916 | title=Birds of Australia | volume=6 | location=London | publisher=Witherby | page=14 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53281823 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1937 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=3 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=151 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14477866 }}</ref> The rainbow lorikeet is now placed in the [[genus]] ''[[Trichoglossus]]'' that was introduced in 1826 by the English naturalist [[James Francis Stephens]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Stephens | first=James Francis | author-link=James Francis Stephens | year=1812 | title=General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History Volume 14, Part 1 | location=London | publisher=Kearsley et al. | page=129 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46393921 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Parrots, cockatoos | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/parrots/| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=25 July 2021 }}</ref>

Two [[subspecies]] are recognised:<ref name=ioc/>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Subspecies !!  Distribution
|-
| || ''T. m. septentrionalis'' [[Herbert C. Robinson|Robinson]], 1900 || [[Cape York Peninsula]] (northeast Australia)
|-
|[[File:Rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus) Sydney 2.jpg|120px]]|| ''T. m. moluccanus'' (Gmelin, JF, 1788) || Australia (except Cape York Peninsula) and Tasmania
|-
|}

The rainbow lorikeet has often included the [[red-collared lorikeet]] (''T. rubritorquis'') as a subspecies, but today most major authorities consider it separate.<ref name=H&M>Dickinson, E. C. (editor) (2003). ''The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World.'' 3d edition. Christopher Helm. {{ISBN|0-7136-6536-X}}</ref><ref name=IOC>Gill, F., M. Wright, & D. Donsker (2010). ''[http://www.worldbirdnames.org/ IOC World Bird Names].'' Version 2.4. Accessed 25-04-2010</ref> Additionally, a review in 1997 led to the recommendation of splitting off some of the most distinctive taxa from the [[Lesser Sundas]] as separate species, these being the [[scarlet-breasted lorikeet]] (''T. forsteni''), the [[marigold lorikeet]] (''T. capistratus'') and the [[Flores lorikeet]] (''T. weberi'').<ref>[[Richard Schodde|Schodde, R.]] & [[Ian J. Mason|I. J. Mason]] (1997). ''Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Volume 37, Part 2: Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae).'' Australian Biological Resources Study. {{ISBN|0-643-06037-5}}</ref> This is increasingly followed by major authorities.<ref name=H&M/><ref name=IOC/> In 2019 The rainbow lorikeet in Australia was split into three: rainbow, [[Coconut lorikeet|coconut]] (''T. haematodus'') and [[red-collared lorikeet]]s (''T. rubritorquis'').<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-19/rainbow-lorikeet-species-split-into-six/11806318|title=Rainbow lorikeet is not one, but actually six different species|last=Collins|first=Ben|date=2019-12-19|website=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-04-05}}</ref>

Three [[syntype]]s of ''Trichoglossus novaehollandiae septentrionalis'' Robinson ([https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12801365 Bull. Liverpool Mus., 2, 1900, p.115]) are held in the vertebrate zoology collection of [[National Museums Liverpool]] at [[World Museum]], with accession numbers NML-VZ 23.7.1900.4, NML-VZ 23.7.1900.4a, and NML-VZ 23.7.1900.4b.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vertebrate Zoology|url=https://www.gbif.org/grscicoll/collection/225db9c9-16a8-47d4-a1a2-6940bb4a2da5|access-date=2021-12-01|website=www.gbif.org|language=en}}</ref> The specimens were collected in [[Cooktown, Queensland|Cooktown]], Queensland, Australia by E. Olive. The specimens came to the Liverpool national collection via purchase from [[Herbert C. Robinson|H. C. Robinson]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=R. Wagstaffe|url=http://archive.org/details/type-specimens-of-birds-in-the-merseyside-county-museums-wagstaffe|title=Type Specimens of Birds in the Merseyside County Museums (formerly City of Liverpool Museums)|date=1978-12-01}}</ref>