:Chlorurus

The word {{'}}Chlorurus{{'}} comes from the Greek words 'chloros', which means green and 'oura', which means tail.

File:Chlorurus enneacanthus, Raa Atoll, Maldives imported from iNaturalist photo 473622472 (cropped).jpg with an initial phase Scarus scaber, in the Maldives]]

Chlorurus is most closely related to its sister genus Scarus. Most recent phylogenetic analyses find that the two genera diverged during the late Miocene (Messinian).{{Cite journal |last1=Choat |first1=John. H. |last2=klanten |first2=Oya. S. |last3=Van Herwerden |first3=Lynne |last4=Robertson |first4=D. Ross |last5=Clements |first5=Kendall D. |date=November 2012 |title=Patterns and processes in the evolutionary history of parrotfishes (Family Labridae): Evolutionary History of Parrotfishes |url=https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-lookup/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01959.x |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=107 |issue=3 |pages=529–557 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01959.x}} In both genera, most of their diversification occurred some time later, within the last 3.5 million years during the Pliocene.{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Lydia L. |last2=Fessler |first2=Jennifer L. |last3=Alfaro |first3=Michael E. |last4=Streelman |first4=J. Todd |last5=Westneat |first5=Mark W. |date=October 2008 |title=Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of regulatory gene sequences in the parrotfishes |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=en |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=136–152 |bibcode=2008MolPE..49..136S |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.06.008 |pmc=3418665 |pmid=18621133}} In contrast, coral reefs in their modern form were established much earlier, during the Miocene.

A 2012 phylogenetic analysis of 16 of the 18 Chlorurus species recovered 5 major monophyletic clades.

There are 18 species:

{{Commons category|Chlorurus}}

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Category:Marine fish genera

Category:Taxa named by William Swainson

{{Labridae-stub}}