Hypargos is a genus of small seed-eating birds in the family Estrildidae that are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

There are species with the common name of twinspot in other genera within the Estrildidae family.

Taxonomy

The genus Hypargos was introduced in 1862 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach to accommodate the pink-throated twinspot.[1][2] The name combines the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "beneath" with Argos from Argus Panoptes, the many-eyed giant in Greek mythology.[3] The genus Hypargos is sister to the genus Euschistospiza which contains two more species with "twinspot" in their common name.[4][5]

Species

The genus contains two species:[4]

Genus Hypargos – Reichenbach, 1862 – two species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Red-throated twinspot

Hypargos niveoguttatus
(Peters, W, 1868) 		Angola, Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Pink-throated twinspot


Male
{{{image-alt2}}}
Female

Hypargos margaritatus
(Strickland, 1844) 		Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 



References

  1. ^ Reichenbach, Ludwig (1862). Die Singvögel als Fortsetzung de vollständigsten Naturgeschichte und zugleich als Central-Atlas für zoologische Gärten und für Thierfreunde. Ein durch zahlreiche illuminirte Abbildungen illustrirtes Handbuch zur richtigten Bestimmung und Pflege der Thiere aller Classen (in German). Dresden and Leipzig: Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte. pp. 21–22.
  2. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 323.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  5. ^ Olsson, Urban; Alström, Per (2020). "A comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomic evaluation of the waxbills (Aves: Estrildidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 146: 106757. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106757. PMID 32028027.

External links

  • Media related to Hypargos at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Hypargos at Wikispecies