Editing Roseate spoonbill (section)

==Taxonomy==
The roseate spoonbill was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the current [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Platalea ajaja''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=140 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727047 }}</ref> Linnaeus largely based his account on the "Aiaia" that been described and illustrated over a century earlier by the German naturalist [[Georg Marcgrave]] in his book ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Marcgrave  | first=Georg | author-link=Georg Marcgrave | year=1648 | title=Historia Naturalis Brasiliae: Liber Quintus: Qui agit de Avibus | language=Latin | location=Lugdun and Batavorum (London and Leiden) | publisher=Franciscum Hackium and Elzevirium | page=204 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/289297 }}</ref> Linnaeus specified the [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] as South America but this is now restricted to Brazil.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Berlepsch | first=Hans von | author-link=Hans von Berlepsch | year=1908 | title=On the birds of Cayenne | journal=Novitates Zoologicae | volume=15 | pages=103–324 [301]| url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2987947 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=268 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108908 }}</ref> The genus name ''Platalea'' is [[Latin]] and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill; the specific epithet ''ajaja'' is from the name for the species in the [[Tupi language]] as reported by Marcgrave.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n157/mode/1up 157], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n37/mode/1up 37]}}</ref> The species is treated as [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<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 C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/pelicans/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=23 July 2024 }}</ref>

The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own genus – ''Ajaia''. A 2010 study of [[mitochondrial DNA]] of the spoonbills by Chesser and colleagues found that the roseate and [[yellow-billed spoonbill]]s were each other's closest relatives, and the two were descended from an early offshoot from the ancestors of the other four spoonbill species. They felt the genetic evidence meant it was equally valid to consider all six to be classified within the genus ''[[Spoonbill|Platalea]]'' or alternatively the two placed in the [[Monotypic taxon|monotypic]] genera ''Platibis'' and ''Ajaia'', respectively. However, as the six species were so similar morphologically, keeping them within the one genus made more sense.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Chesser, R.Terry |author2=Yeung, Carol K.L. |author3=Yao, Cheng-Te |author4=Tians, Xiu-Hua |author5=Li Shou-Hsien |year=2010|title=Molecular phylogeny of the spoonbills (Aves: Threskiornithidae) based on mitochondrial DNA|journal=Zootaxa|volume=2603 |issue= 2603|pages=53–60|issn=1175-5326|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2603.1.2 }}</ref>