The Guianan red cotinga (Phoenicircus carnifex) is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae, the cotingas. It is one of two species in the genus Phoenicircus.

Guianan red cotinga
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cotingidae
Genus: Phoenicircus
Species:
P. carnifex
Binomial name
Phoenicircus carnifex
Synonyms
  • Lanius carnifex Linnaeus, 1758
  • Ampelis carnifex Linnaeus, 1766

It is found in northeastern South America in the Guianas in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana; also a small border region of adjacent eastern Venezuela. In Brazil the species is found in the lower Amazon Basin bordering the Guyanas at the Amazon River outlet, and only ranges upstream in the Brazilian states of Pará, and Amapá. It is found on Marajó Island and southwards into northeastern Pará.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

There is a minor intersecting of the Guianan red cotinga range with the only other species in Phoenicircus, the black-necked red cotinga.

Taxonomy

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In 1743 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the Guianan red cotinga in the first volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Red Bird from Surinam". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen in the collection of the Duke of Richmond.[2] When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the Guianan red cotinga with the shrikes in the genus Lanius. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Lanius carnifex and cited Edwards' work.[3] The Guianan red cotinga is now placed in the genus Phoenicircus that was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist William John Swainson.[4][5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek phoinikeos meaning "crimson" or "dark red" with kerkos meaning "tail". The specific epithet carnifex is Latin meaning "executioner" or "murderer".[6] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[5]

References

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  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Phoenicircus carnifex". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22700700A93793289. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22700700A93793289.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Edwards, George (1743). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Vol. Part 1. London: Printed for the author at the College of Physicians. p. 39, Plate 39.
  3. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 94.
  4. ^ Swainson, William John; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna Boreali-Americana, or, The Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. Vol. Part 2. The Birds. London: J. Murray. p. 491. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume was not published until 1832.
  5. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Cotingas, manakins, tityras, becards". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  6. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 91, 303. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
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