White-crested spadebill explained

The white-crested spadebill (Platyrinchus platyrhynchos) is a species of passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Taxonomy

The white-crested spadebill was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the todies in the genus Todus and coined the binomial name Todus platyrhynchos.^[1] The specific epithet is from Ancient Greek platurrhunkhos meaning "broad-billed" or "broad-beaked" (from platus meaning "broad" or "wide" and rhunkhos meaning "bill").^[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Todi Leucocephali" that had been described and illustrated in 1769 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas.^[3] Pallas did not specify a locality but this was subsequently designated as Suriname.^[4] The white-crested spadebill is now one of seven spadebills placed in the genus Platyrinchus that was introduced in 1805 by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest.^{[5] [6]}

Four subspecies are recognised:^[6]

• P. p. platyrhynchos (Gmelin, JF, 1788) – east Colombia through the Guianas and north Brazil
• P. p. senex Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1880 – east Ecuador, east Peru, north Bolivia and extreme west Brazil
• P. p. nattereri Hartert, EJO & Hellmayr, 1902 – central south Amazonian Brazil
• P. p. amazonicus Berlepsch, 1912 – east Amazonian Brazil

Notes and References

1. Book: Gmelin, Johann Friedrich . Johann Friedrich Gmelin. 1788 . Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis . 13th . 1, Part 1 . Latin . Lipsiae [Leipzig] . Georg. Emanuel. Beer . 446 .
2. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 309 .
3. Book: Pallas, Peter Simon . Peter Simon Pallas . 1769 . Spicilegia zoologica : quibus novae imprimis et obscurae animalium species iconibus, descriptionibus atque commentariis illustrantur . Latin . Berolini . Prostant apud Gottl. August. Lange . fasc. 6, p. 19, Plate 3, Fig. 2 .
4. Book: Traylor . Melvin A. Jr . Melvin Alvah Traylor Jr. . 1979 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 8 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 111 .
5. Book: Desmarest, Anselme Gaëtan . Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest . 1805 . Histoire naturelle des tangaras, des manakins et des todiers . French . Paris . Livre 4 page 2, Plate 72 text .
6. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . January 2023 . Tyrant flycatchers . IOC World Bird List Version 13.1 . International Ornithologists' Union . 20 March 2023 .