Psitteuteles
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Psitteuteles is a genus of parrots in the family Psittaculidae. The three species in the genus are native to Australia.
| Psitteuteles | |
|---|---|
| |
| Varied lorikeet (Psitteuteles versicolor) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittaculidae |
| Tribe: | Loriini |
| Genus: | Psitteuteles Bonaparte, 1854 |
| Synonyms | |
|
Parvipsitta Mathews, 1916 | |
Taxonomy
The genus Psitteuteles was introduced in 1854 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte who listed several species in the genus but did not specify the type species.[1][2] In 1855 George Gray designated the type as Psittacus versicolor Vigors (i.e. Psittacus versicolor Lear), the varied lorikeet.[3] The genus name is from the binomial Psittacus euteles that the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck had introduced in 1835 for the olive-headed lorikeet. This species is now placed in the genus Trichoglossus.[4][5]
The genus contains three species:[5]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Varied lorikeet | Psitteuteles versicolor | northern Australia (Kimberley region, northern Western Australia, eastward to southwestern Cape York Peninsula, southern Queensland) |
 | Little lorikeet | Psitteuteles pusillus | eastern and southeastern Australia (Wet Tropics region, southern Queensland, southward to southeastern South Australia) |
.jpg) | Purple-crowned lorikeet | Psitteuteles porphyrocephalus | southern Australia (southwestern Western Australia, southern South Australia including Kangaroo Island, western Victoria, and south-western New South Wales) |
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