Serinus Explained

Serinus is a genus of small birds in the finch family Fringillidae found in West Asia, Europe and Africa. The birds usually have some yellow in their plumage. The genus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch.^{[1] [2]} Its name is Neo-Latin for "canary-yellow".^[3]

Many species were at one time assigned to the genus but it became clear from phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that the genus was polyphyletic.^{[4] [5] [6]} This was confirmed by Dario Zuccon and coworkers in a comprehensive study of the finch family published in 2012. The authors suggested splitting the genus into two monophyletic groups, a proposal that was accepted by the International Ornithologists' Union. The genus Serinus was restricted to the European serin and seven other species while a larger clade from Africa and Arabia was assigned to the resurrected genus Crithagra.^{[7] [8]}

The genus contains eight species:^[8]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Serinus pusillus		Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine
	Serinus serinus		southern and central Europe and North Africa
	Serinus syriacus		Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
	Serinus canaria		the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira
	Serinus canicollis		southern Africa
	Serinus flavivertex		eastern Africa
	Serinus nigriceps		Ethiopia
	Serinus alario		Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa

External links

• Serin videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection

Notes and References

1. Book: Koch, Carl Ludwig . Carl Ludwig Koch . 1816 . System der baierischen Zoologie, Volume 1 . Nürnberg . 228 . de .
2. Book: Paynter . Raymond A. Jnr. . 1968 . Check-list of birds of the world, Volume 14 . 14 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 208 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London, United Kingdom . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 354 .
4. Arnaiz-Villena . A. . Alvarez-Tejado . M. . Ruiz-del-Valle . V. . García-de-la-Torre . C. . Varela . P. . Recio . M. . Ferre . S. . Martinez-Laso . J. . 1999 . Rapid Radiation of Canaries (Genus Serinus) . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 16 . 1 . 2–11 . 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026034.
5. Ryan . P.G. . Wright . D. . Oatley . G. . Wakeling . J. . Cohen . C. . Nowell . T.L. . Bowie . R.C.K. . Ward . V. . Crowe . T.M. . 2004 . Systematics of Serinus canaries and the status of Cape and Yellow-crowned Canaries inferred from mtDNA and morphology . Ostrich . 75 . 4 . 288–294 . 10.2989/00306520409485457 . 2004Ostri..75..288R . 84396955 .
6. Nguembock . B. . Fjeldså . J. . Couloux . A. . Pasquet . E. . 2009 . Molecular phylogeny of Carduelinae (Aves, Passeriformes, Fringillidae) proves polyphyletic origin of the genera Serinus and Carduelis and suggests redefined generic limits . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 51 . 2 . 169–181 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2008.10.022 . 19027082. 2009MolPE..51..169N .
7. Zuccon . Dario . Prŷs-Jones . Robert . Rasmussen . Pamela C. . Ericson . Per G.P. . 2012 . The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 62 . 2 . 581–596 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002 . 22023825. 2012MolPE..62..581Z .
8. Web site: Gill . Frank . Donsker . David . Finches, euphonias . World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. 5 June 2015 .