Zosterops

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Genus of birds

title: "Zosterops" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["zosterops", "bird-genera", "taxa-named-by-nicholas-aylward-vigors"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/zosterops" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zosterops" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of birds ::

| name = Zosterops | image = Indian white-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus egregius).jpg | image_caption = Z. palpebrosus egregius, Sri Lanka | taxon = Zosterops | authority = Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 | type_species = Motacilla maderaspatana (Malagasy white-eye) | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1766 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text

Zosterops (meaning "eye-girdle") is a genus of passerine birds containing the typical white-eyes in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The genus has the largest number of species in the white-eye family. They occur in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian realms. Typical white-eyes have a length of between 8 and. Their most characteristic feature is a conspicuous white feather ring around the eye, though some species lack it. The species in this group vary in the structural adaptations of the tongue. The Zosterops [griseotinctus] group is an example of a "great speciator" inhabiting a vast area and showing a remarkable morphological differentiation on islands, some of which may be as close as 2 km apart.

Systematics

The genus Zosterops was introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827. The name combines the Ancient Greek words zōstēros "belt" or "girdle" and ōpos "eye". The type species was designated as the Malagasy white-eye by René Lesson in 1828.

The results of a series of molecular phylogenetic studies of the Zosteropidae published between 2014 and 2018 prompted a major revision of species limits, in which 10 new genera were introduced. In the reorganisation, the English names of three of the existing genera were replaced.

Additionally, a study on Sri Lanka white-eyes (Zosterops ceylonensis) and Indian white-eyes (Zosterops palpebrosus) suggests that the Sri Lanka white-eye is the root species and the origin of all Zosterops species. This raises questions upon the former theory of Southeast Asian origin.

Species

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Zosterops_atricapilla_2.jpg" caption="Black-capped white-eye
''Z. atricapilla''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Mauritius_grey_white-eye_(Zosterops_mauritianus).jpg" caption="Zosterops mauritianus]]''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Mauritius_olive_white-eye_(Zosterops_chloronothos).jpg" caption="Zosterops chloronothos]]''"] ::

There are over 100 species in the genus. This includes three species (denoted by a dagger † in the list below) that have become extinct since the 16th century.

References

References

  1. (1969). "Tongues of the Zosteropidae (white-eyes)". Ardea.
  2. (2009). "Explosive Pleistocene diversification and hemispheric expansion of a "great speciator"". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
  3. (1826). "Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.
  4. Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
  5. Lesson, René P.. (1828). "Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Description des genres et des principales espèces d'oiseaux". Roret.
  6. (1986). "Check-list of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
  7. (2014). "Niche divergence promotes rapid diversification of East African sky island white-eyes (Aves: Zosteropidae)". Molecular Ecology.
  8. (2017). "''Zosterops'' white-eyes in continental South-East Asia. 1: proposed refinements to the regional definition of Oriental White-eye ''Z. palpebrosus''". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club.
  9. (2017). "''Zosterops'' white-eyes in continental South-East Asia. 2: what is ''Zosterops auriventer'' Hume?". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club.
  10. (2018). "Molecular evidence suggests radical revision of species limits in the great speciator white‑eye genus ''Zosterops''". Journal of Ornithology.
  11. (August 2024). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes". International Ornithologists' Union.
  12. (2017). "Non-sister Sri Lankan white-eyes (genus ''Zosterops'') are a result of independent colonizations". PLOS ONE.
  13. "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List".
  14. Anderson, Natali. (2022-10-21). "Newly-Described Bird Species is Endemic to Indonesian Island {{!}} Sci.News".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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