Cacomantis
{{short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Cacomantis flabelliformis.jpg
| image_caption = Fan-tailed cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)
| type_species = Cuculus flavus{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=70 |title= Cuculidae |author= |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-08-05}} = Cuculus merulinus
| type_species_authority = Gmelin, 1788
| taxon = Cacomantis
| authority = S. Müller, 1843
}}
Cacomantis is a genus of cuckoos in the family Cuculidae. The name is from the Ancient Greek κακομαντις (kakomantis) meaning "prophet of evil". Most species have a round nostril and are mainly in brown and gray colours. The tails are graduated and barred. The bars are transverse in sonneratii and oblique in all others.Payne, RB (2005). The Cuckoos. Oxford University Press. p. 422
Taxonomy
The genus Cacomantis was introduced in 1843 by the German naturalist Salomon Müller.{{ cite book | last=Müller | first=Salomon | author-link=Salomon Müller | date=1843 | title=Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis | volume=1: Land-en Volkenkunde | language=Dutch | location=Leiden | publisher=In commissie bij. S. en J. Luchtmans en C.C. van der Hoek | page=177, Footnote | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56902015 }} He did not specify a type species; this was subsequently designated as Cuculus flavus Gmelin, a junior synonym of Cuculus merulinus Scopoli (the plaintive cuckoo).{{ cite book | last=Salvadori | first=Tommaso | author-link=Tommaso Salvadori | year=1880 | title=Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle Molucche | volume=1 | language=Italian | location=Torino | publisher=G.B. Paravia | page=331 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/52807643 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1940 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=4 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=22 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14476474 }} The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kakomantis meaning "prophet of doom".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=82 }} Müller explained that local people on the Maluku Islands thought of these species as "birds of misfortune" due to their mournful calls and their frequent presence in cemeteries.
=Species=
- Chestnut-breasted cuckoo, Cacomantis castaneiventris
- Fan-tailed cuckoo, Cacomantis flabelliformis
- Banded bay cuckoo, Cacomantis sonneratii
- Plaintive cuckoo, Cacomantis merulinus
- Grey-bellied cuckoo, Cacomantis passerinus
- Sunda brush cuckoo or rusty-breasted cuckoo, Cacomantis sepulcralis
- Sulawesi brush cuckoo, Cacomantis virescens (split from C. sepulcralis)
- Sahul brush cuckoo or brush cuckoo, Cacomantis variolosus
- Manus brush cuckoo, Cacomantis blandus (split from C. variolosus)
- Solomons brush cuckoo, Cacomantis addendus (split form C. variolosus)
- Moluccan brush cuckoo or Moluccan cuckoo, Cacomantis aeruginosus
The pallid cuckoo (Heteroscenes pallidus) and the white-crowned cuckoo (Caliechthrus leucolophus) were formerly placed in this genus. They are now each placed in their own monotypic genus.
References
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Category:Taxa named by Salomon Müller
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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