Malurus
Genus of birds
Malurus is a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae.
01Taxonomy
The genus Malurus was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot to accommodate a single species, Motacilla cyanea Latham, the superb fairywren. This is the type species. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek μαλος/malos meaning "soft" or "delicate" with ουρα/oura meaning "tail".
02Species
The genus contains 12 species:
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malurus cyanocephalus | Emperor fairywren | New Guinea | |
| Malurus amabilis | Lovely fairywren | North-eastern Australia | |
| Malurus assimilis | Purple-backed fairywren | Central and Western Australia | |
| Malurus lamberti | Variegated fairywren | Eastern Australia | |
| Malurus pulcherrimus | Blue-breasted fairywren | Southern Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia | |
| Malurus elegans | Red-winged fairywren | South-western corner of Western Australia | |
| Malurus cyaneus | Superb fairywren | Australia and lowland New Guinea | |
| Malurus splendens | Splendid fairywren | Central and Western Australia | |
| Malurus coronatus | Purple-crowned fairywren | Northern Australia | |
| Malurus alboscapulatus | White-shouldered fairywren | New Guinea | |
| Malurus melanocephalus | Red-backed fairywren | Australia | |
| Malurus leucopterus | White-winged fairywren | Central Queensland and South Australia across to Western Australia |
Former species
Some authorities, either presently or formerly, recognize several additional species as belonging to the genus Malurus including:
- Wallace's fairywren (as Malurus wallacei and Malurus wallacii)
- Broad-billed fairywren (as Malurus grayi)
- Campbell's fairywren (as Malurus campbelli)
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Malurus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus cyaneus) male South Bruny.jpg by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0
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