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Tropicbird
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==Taxonomy, systematics and evolution== The [[genus]] ''Phaethon'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<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=134 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727039 }}</ref> The name is from [[Ancient Greek]] ''phaethōn'' meaning "sun".<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 | page=301 }}</ref> The [[type species]] was designated as the [[red-billed tropicbird]] (''Phaethon aethereus'') by [[George Robert Gray]] in 1840.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1840 | title=A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus | location=London | publisher=R. and J.E. Taylor | page=80 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13668997}}</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=155 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108795 }}</ref> Tropicbirds were traditionally grouped in the [[order (biology)|order]] [[Pelecaniformes]], which contained the [[pelican]]s, [[cormorant|cormorants and shags]], [[darters]], [[Sulidae|gannets and boobies]] and [[frigatebirds]]; in the [[Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy]], the Pelecaniformes were united with other groups into a large "Ciconiiformes". More recently this grouping has been found to be massively [[paraphyletic]] (missing closer relatives of its distantly related groups) and split again. Microscopic analysis of eggshell structure by Konstantin Mikhailov in 1995 found that the eggshells of tropicbirds lacked the covering of thick microglobular material of other Pelecaniformes.<ref>{{cite journal | author= Mikhailov, Konstantin E. | title=Eggshell structure in the shoebill and pelecaniform birds: comparison with hamerkop, herons, ibises and storks |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |year= 1995 |issue=9 |volume=73 |pages= 1754–70 | doi=10.1139/z95-207| bibcode=1995CaJZ...73.1754M }}</ref> Jarvis, ''et al''.'s 2014 paper "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds" aligns the tropicbirds most closely with the [[sunbittern]] and the [[kagu]] of the [[Eurypygiformes]], with these two clades forming the sister group of the "core water birds", the [[Aequornithes]], and the Metaves hypothesis abandoned.<ref name="Jarvis">{{cite journal | last1 = Jarvis | first1 = Erich D. | display-authors = etal | year = 2014 | title = Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds | url= | journal = Science | volume = 346 | issue = 6215| pages = 1320–1331 | doi = 10.1126/science.1253451 | pmid=25504713 | pmc=4405904| bibcode = 2014Sci...346.1320J }}</ref> * '''Family Phaethontidae''' <small>Brandt 1840</small> ** Genus †''[[Proplegadis]]'' <small>Harrison & Walker 1971</small> *** †''[[Proplegadis fisheri]]'' <small>Harrison & Walker 1971</small> ** Genus †''[[Phaethusavis]]'' <small>Bourdon, Amaghzaz & Bouya 2008</small> *** †''[[Phaethusavis pelagicus]]'' <small>Bourdon, Amaghzaz & Bouya 2008</small> ** Genus †''[[Heliadornis]]'' <small>Olson 1985</small> *** †''[[Heliadornis ashbyi|H. ashbyi]]'' <small>Olson 1985</small> *** †''[[Heliadornis minor|H. minor]]'' <small>Kessler 2009</small> *** †''[[Heliadornis paratethydicus|H. paratethydicus]]'' <small>Mlíkovský 1997</small> ** Genus ''Phaethon'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]</small> *** [[Red-billed tropicbird]] ''P. aethereus'' (tropical Atlantic, eastern Pacific, and Indian oceans) *** [[Red-tailed tropicbird]], ''P. rubricauda'' (Indian Ocean and the western and central tropical Pacific) *** [[White-tailed tropicbird]], ''P. lepturus'' (widespread in tropical waters, except in the eastern Pacific) The red-billed tropicbird is basal within the genus. The split between the red-billed tropicbird and the other two tropicbirds is hypothesized to have taken place about six million years ago, with the split between the red-tailed and white-tailed tropicbird taking place about four million years ago.<ref name="KennedySpencer2004">{{cite journal|last1=Kennedy|first1=Martyn|last2=Spencer|first2=Hamish G|title=Phylogenies of the frigatebirds (Fregatidae) and tropicbirds (Phaethonidae), two divergent groups of the traditional order Pelecaniformes, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=31|issue=1|year=2004|pages=31–38|issn=1055-7903|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.007|pmid=15019606|bibcode=2004MolPE..31...31K }}</ref> ''[[Phaethusavis]]'' and ''[[Heliadornis]]'' are prehistoric genera of tropicbirds described from [[fossil]]s. ===Extant species=== {{Species table |genus=[[Phaethon]] |authority-name= [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]|authority-year= [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]] |species-count=Three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}} {{Species table/row |name= Red-billed tropicbird|binomial=[[Phaethon aethereus]] |image=File:RED BILLED TROPIC BIRD.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year= 1758 |authority-not-original= |range= Central Atlantic, East Pacific, Caribbean, and East Atlantic, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea |range-image=File:Phaethon aethereus map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on |''P. a. aethereus'' Linnaeus, 1758 |''P. a. mesonauta'' J. L. Peters, 1930 |''P. a. indicus'' A. O. Hume, 1876 }} }} {{Species table/row |name= Red-tailed tropicbird|binomial=[[Phaethon rubricauda]] |image=File:Red-tailed Tropicbird - Nosy Ve - Madagascar MG 1985 (15108469068).jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Boddaert|authority-year= 1783 |authority-not-original= |range= southern Indian, and western and central Pacific Oceans, from the African coast to Indonesia, the waters around the southern reaches of Japan, across to Chile |range-image=File:Redtailedtropicbirdrge.png |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on |''P. r. rubricauda'' Boddaert, 1783 |''P. r. westralis'' Mathews, 1912 |''P. r. roseotinctus'' Mathews, 1926 |''P. r. melanorhynchos'' Gmelin, 1789 }} }} {{Species table/row |name= White-tailed tropicbird|binomial=[[Phaethon lepturus]] |image=File:White-tailed Tropicbird - Phaeton lepturus 2.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Daudin |authority-year= 1802 |authority-not-original= |range= tropical Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Oceans |range-image=File:Phaethon lepturus map.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status=LC |population= |direction= |subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Six subspecies |bullets=on | ''P. l. lepturus'' | ''P. l. fulvus'' | ''P. l. dorotheae'' | ''P. l. catesbyi'' | ''P. l. ascensionis'' | ''P. l. europae'' }} }} {{Species table/end}}
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