Spilopelia Explained

Spilopelia is a genus of doves that are closely related to Streptopelia and Nesoenas, but distinguished from them by differences in morphology and genetics. Some authors^[1] had argued that Stigmatopelia is the valid name as it appears in an earlier line of the same work by the Swedish zoologist Carl Sundevall,^[2] but Richard Schodde and Ian J. Mason had earlier, in their 1999 zoological catalogue of Australian birds, chosen Spilopelia in treating these two names as applying to the same genus; their choice stands under clause 24(b) of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) which supports the decision of the first reviser.^{[3] [4]} The name Spilopelia combines the Ancient Greek spilos meaning "spot" and peleia meaning "dove".^[5]

Species

The genus includes just two species:^[6]

Some ornithologists split the spotted dove into the eastern spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) and the western spotted dove (Spilopelia suratensis),^{[7] [8]} but this has not to date been accepted by the IOC.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Cheke . Anthony S. . 2005 . Naming segregates from the Columba–Streptopelia pigeons following DNA studies on phylogeny. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club . 125 . 4 . 293–295 .
2. Book: Sundevall, Carl . Carl Jakob Sundevall . Methodi naturalis avium disponendarum tentamen. Försök till fogelklassens naturenliga uppställnung . Latin . 1872 . Samson and Wallin. Stockholm . 100 .
3. Book: Schodde . R. . Richard Schodde . Mason . I.J. . Ian J. Mason . 1997. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae) . 37 . 2 . CSIRO publishing . 20. 978-0-643-06037-1.
4. Web site: Chapter 6: Validity of names and nomenclatural acts. Art. 24.2 . International Code of Zoological Nomenclature . 1999 . International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature . 4th .
5. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . limited . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 362 .
6. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . 2020 . Pigeons . IOC World Bird List Version 10.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 5 March 2020 .
7. Baptista . L.F. . Trail . P.W. . Horblit . H.M. . Kirwan . G.M. . Garcia . E.F.J. . 2020 . Eastern Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis) . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Christie . D.A. . de Juana . E. . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions . 10.2173/bow.spodov.01 . 216386337 . 7 March 2020 . subscription .
8. del Hoyo . J. . Collar . N. . Kirwan . G.M. . Garcia . E.F.J. . 2020 . Western Spotted Dove (Spilopelia suratensis) . del Hoyo . J. . Elliott . A. . Sargatal . J. . Christie . D.A. . de Juana . E. . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive . Lynx Edicions . 10.2173/bow.spodov.01 . 216386337 . 7 March 2020 . subscription .
9. Web site: Species Updates – IOC World Bird List. 2024-08-09.