Harpactes

Taxonomy

The genus Harpactes was introduced in 1833 by the English zoologist William Swainson. He did not specify a type species but in 1840 by the English zoologist George Gray designated the type as Trogon malabaricus Gould, 1834. This taxon is now considered as a subspecies of Harpactes fasciatus Pennant, 1769, the Malabar trogon. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ἁρπακτης/harpaktēs meaning "robber".

Two species, cinnamon-rumped and scarlet-rumped trogons, were previously classified in a separate genus, Duvaucelius, and a 2010 study found that these two were closely related and formed a separate clade from all of the other Harpactes trogons (except orange-breasted trogon, which forms a third group), but recommended that all three groups should be treated as congeneric. This same study also found that the genus Apalharpactes, containing two species sometimes included in Harpactes, is actually distantly related and thus a valid genus.