St. Helena Cuckoo
St. Helena Cuckoo
Here the details of the St. Helena Cuckoo named bird below:
SCI Name:
Protonym: Smiths.Contrib.Paleobiol. 23 p.32
Taxonomy: Cuculiformes / Cuculidae / Nannococcyx
Taxonomy Code: sthcuc1
Type Locality:
Author: Olson
Publish Year: 1975
IUCN Status: Extinct
DEFINITIONS
NANNOCOCCYX
‡ (Cuculidae; Ϯ St Helena Dwarf Cuckoo N. psix) Gr. ναννος nannos dwarf; κοκκυξ kokkux, κοκκυγος kokkugos cuckoo; "Genus Nannococcyx, new genus TYPE.—Nannococcyx psix, new species. ... ETYMOLOGY.—From the Greek nannos (dwarf) plus coccyx (cuckoo). ... Extinct; presumably extirpated after 1502. ... Further material might perhaps show Nannococcyx to be inseparable from Chrysococcyx, but other than the small size there is no morphological evidence as yet to support a relationship to Chrysococcyx as opposed certain other genera of cuckoos. It is quite possible that Nannococcyx was a larger bird than the single humerus would indicate" (Olson 1975); "Nannococcyx Olson, 1975, Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, No. 23, p. 31. Type, by original designation, Nannococcyx psix Olson, 1975." (JAJ 2021). The St Helena Dwarf Cuckoo is known only from subfossil remains, and doubtless became extinct in the 16th century.
psix
Gr. ψιξ psix, ψιχος psikhos crumb, morsel; "Nannococcyx psix, new species ... ETYMOLOGY.—From the Greek psix (a crumb, in allusion to the fragmentary nature of the type)." (Olson 1975) (‡Nannococcyx).
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, mispellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)