Xenicus
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xenicus is a genus of birds in the family Acanthisittidae. It contains New Zealand wrens.
| Xenicus | |
|---|---|
| |
| A South Island wren. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Acanthisittidae |
| Genus: | Xenicus G.R. Gray, 1855 |
| Type species | |
| Motacilla longipes[1] Gmelin, 1789 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pachyplichas (Millener, 1988) | |
Species
- New Zealand rock wren, Xenicus gilviventris
- Bushwren, †Xenicus longipes (extinct)
- South Island stout-legged wren, †Xenicus yaldwyni (extinct) – South Island, New Zealand
- North Island stout-legged wren, †Xenicus jagmi (extinct) – North Island, New Zealand
Lyall's wren was classified as Xenicus lyalli but is quite divergent, so it is placed in its own genus, Traversia.
Taxonomy
The stout-legged wrens formed a species pair. They had reduced wings and robust legs indicating that they were adapted to a terrestrial existence and were either flightless or nearly so.[2] Genetic evidence has indicated that the former genus Pachyplichas is nested within Xenicus, and stout-legged wrens must have evolved from a gracile-legged ancestor. A cladogram is given below.[3]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg){kind=small}