Heliantheini Explained

Heliantheini is one of the two tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other tribe in the subfamily is Lesbiini.

The informal name "brilliants" has been proposed for this group as it includes the genus Heliodoxa that has nine species with "brilliant" in their common name.^[1]

The tribe contains 53 species divided into 14 genera.^{[2] [3]}

Phylogeny

A molecular phylogenetic study of the hummingbirds published in 2007 found that the family was composed of nine major clades.^[4] When Edward Dickinson and James Van Remsen, Jr. updated the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World for the 4th edition in 2013 they divided the hummingbirds into six subfamilies and proposed using the name Heliantheini for one of the two tribes in the subfamily Lesbiinae. The tribe Heliantheini had been introduced (as a subfamily Heliantheinae) by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1854.^[5]

Cladogram

Molecular phylogenetic studies by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published between 2007 and 2014 determined the relationships between the major groups of hummingbirds.^{[2] [4] [6]} In the cladogram below the English names are those introduced in 1997.^[7] The Latin names are those proposed by Dickinson and Remsen in 2013.

The phylogeny of the Heliantheini based on a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 is shown below. Loddigesia (marvelous spatuletail) was found to be embedded within Eriocnemis.^[2]

Taxonomic list

The tribe contains 14 genera.^[3]

Image	Genus	Living species
	Haplophaedia	Greenish puffleg, Haplophaedia aureliae Buff-thighed puffleg, Haplophaedia assimilis Hoary puffleg, Haplophaedia lugens
	Eriocnemis	Black-breasted puffleg, Eriocnemis nigrivestis Gorgeted puffleg, Eriocnemis isabellae Glowing puffleg, Eriocnemis vestita Black-thighed puffleg, Eriocnemis derbyi Turquoise-throated puffleg, Eriocnemis godini Coppery-bellied puffleg, Eriocnemis cupreoventris Sapphire-vented puffleg, Eriocnemis luciani Golden-breasted puffleg, Eriocnemis mosquera Blue-capped puffleg, Eriocnemis glaucopoides Colorful puffleg, Eriocnemis mirabilis Emerald-bellied puffleg, Eriocnemis aline
	Loddigesia	Marvelous spatuletail, Loddigesia mirabilis
	Aglaeactis	Shining sunbeam, Aglaeactis cupripennis White-tufted sunbeam, Aglaeactis castelnaudii Purple-backed sunbeam, Aglaeactis aliciae Black-hooded sunbeam, Aglaeactis pamela
	Coeligena	Bronzy inca, Coeligena coeligena Brown inca, Coeligena wilsoni Black inca, Coeligena prunellei Collared inca, Coeligena torquata Violet-throated starfrontlet, Coeligena violifer Rainbow starfrontlet, Coeligena iris White-tailed starfrontlet, Coeligena phalerata Dusky starfrontlet, Coeligena orina Buff-winged starfrontlet, Coeligena lutetiae Golden-bellied starfrontlet, Coeligena bonapartei Golden-tailed starfrontlet, Coeligena eos Blue-throated starfrontlet, Coeligena helianthea
	Lafresnaya	Mountain velvetbreast, Lafresnaya lafresnayi
	Ensifera	Sword-billed hummingbird, Ensifera ensifera
	Pterophanes	Great sapphirewing, Pterophanes cyanopterus
	Boissonneaua	Buff-tailed coronet, Boissonneaua flavescens Chestnut-breasted coronet, Boissonneaua matthewsii Velvet-purple coronet, Boissonneaua jardini
	Ocreatus	White-booted racket-tail, Ocreatus underwoodii Peruvian racket-tail, Ocreatus peruanus Rufous-booted racket-tail, Ocreatus addae
	Urochroa	Rufous-gaped hillstar, Urochroa bougueri Green-backed hillstar, Urochroa leucura
	Urosticte	Purple-bibbed whitetip, Urosticte benjamini Rufous-vented whitetip, Urosticte ruficrissa
	Heliodoxa	Velvet-browed brilliant, Heliodoxa xanthogonys Pink-throated brilliant, Heliodoxa gularis Rufous-webbed brilliant, Heliodoxa branickii Black-throated brilliant, Heliodoxa schreibersii Gould's jewelfront, Heliodoxa aurescens Fawn-breasted brilliant, Heliodoxa rubinoides Green-crowned brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula Empress brilliant, Heliodoxa imperatrix Violet-fronted brilliant, Heliodoxa leadbeateri Brazilian ruby, Heliodoxa rubricauda

Sources

• Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Remsen . J.V. Jr. . James Van Remsen, Jr. . 2013 . The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 1: Non-passerines . 4th . Eastbourne, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-0-8 .

Notes and References

1. Bleiweiss . R. . Kirsch . J.A. . Matheus . J.C. . 1997 . DNA hybridization evidence for the principal lineages of hummingbirds (Aves:Trochilidae) . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 14 . 3 . 325–343 . 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025767 . 9066799 . free .
2. McGuire . J. . Witt . C. . Remsen . J.V. . Corl . A. . Rabosky . D. . Altshuler . D. . Dudley . R. . 2014 . Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds . Current Biology . 24 . 8 . 910–916 . 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.016 . 24704078 . free .
3. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2020 . Hummingbirds . IOC World Bird List Version 10.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 8 January 2020 .
4. McGuire . J.A. . Witt . C.C. . Altshuler . D.L. . Remsen . J.V. . 2007 . Phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of hummingbirds: Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of partitioned data and selection of an appropriate partitioning strategy . Systematic Biology . 56 . 5 . 837–856 . 10.1080/10635150701656360 . 17934998 .
5. Reichenbach . Ludwig . Ludwig Reichenbach . 1854 . Aufzählung der Colibris Oder Trochilideen in ihrer wahren natürlichen Verwandtschaft, nebst Schlüssel ihrer Synonymik . Journal für Ornithologie (Supplement) . 1 . 1–24 [9] . German .
6. McGuire . J.A. . Witt . C.C. . Remsen . J.V. . Dudley . R. . Altshuler . D.L. . 2009 . A higher-level taxonomy for hummingbirds . Journal of Ornithology . 150 . 1 . 155–165 . 10.1007/s10336-008-0330-x .
7. Bleiweiss . R. . Kirsch . J.A. . Matheus . J.C. . 1997 . DNA hybridization evidence for the principal lineages of hummingbirds (Aves:Trochilidae). . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 14 . 3 . 325–343 . 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025767 . 9066799 . free.