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Green toucanets

Genus of birds

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Taxonomy

The genus Aulacorhynchus was introduced in 1835 by the English ornithologist John Gould. The name combines the Ancient Greek αυλαξ/aulax, αυλακος/aulakos meaning "furrow" with ῥυγχος/rhunkhos meaning "bill". The type species was designated as Pteroglossuis sulcatus Swainson by George Gray in 1840.

A major taxonomy review in 1974 resulted in 6 species in the genus Aulacorhynchus, and this was adopted by virtually all later authorities.

In 2001, it was suggested that A. prasinus, as traditionally defined, was a species complex that should be split into 7 different species based on preliminary morphological evidence. This was to some extent supported by genetic evidence, which suggested that additional species should be recognized. As a result, A. griseigularis was split from in A. albivitta based on this early genetic evidence but these species are now lumped together again.

Currently, there remains a considerable lack of consensus to support the IOC's latest taxonomy of Aulacorhynchus into eleven species. Several authorities still maintain that the genus Aulacorhynchus has only 7 species and treat the remaining as subspecies. The SACC has called for further genetic studies of this genus.

Species

The genus contains eight species:

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)