Mellisugini

A molecular phylogenetic study of the hummingbirds published in 2007 found that the family was composed of nine major clades.{{Cite journal | last1=McGuire | first1=J.A. | last2=Witt | first2=C.C. | last3=Altshuler | first3=D.L. | last4=Remsen | first4=J.V. | date=2007 | title=Phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of hummingbirds: Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of partitioned data and selection of an appropriate partitioning strategy | journal=Systematic Biology | volume=56 | issue=5 | pages=837–856 | doi=10.1080/10635150701656360 | pmid=17934998 | doi-access=free }} When Edward Dickinson and James Van Remsen, Jr. updated the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World for the 4th edition in 2013 they based their classification on these results and placed three of the nine clades in the subfamily Trochilinae. The clades were placed in separate tribes which they named Mellisugini (bees), Lampornithini (mountain gems) and Trochilini (emeralds).{{sfn|Dickinson|Remsen|2013|p=133}} The tribe Mellisugini with the current circumscription was introduced in 2009. A subfamily Mellisuginae had been introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1854.{{ cite journal | last=Reichenbach | first=Ludwig | author-link=Ludwig Reichenbach | year=1854 | title=Aufzählung der Colibris Oder Trochilideen in ihrer wahren natürlichen Verwandtschaft, nebst Schlüssel ihrer Synonymik | journal=Journal für Ornithologie (Supplement) | volume=1 | pages=1–24 [6] | language=German | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13867384 }}

Molecular phylogenetic studies by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published between 2007 and 2014 determined the relationships between the major groups of hummingbirds.{{Cite journal | last1=McGuire | first1=J.A. | last2=Witt | first2=C.C. | last3=Remsen | first3=J.V. | last4=Dudley | first4=R. | last5=Altshuler | first5=D.L. | date=2009 | title=A higher-level taxonomy for hummingbirds | journal=Journal of Ornithology | volume=150 | issue=1 | pages=155–165 | doi=10.1007/s10336-008-0330-x | doi-broken-date=7 April 2025 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2009JOrni.150..155M }} In the cladogram below the English names are those introduced in 1997.{{Cite journal | last1=Bleiweiss | first1=R. | last2=Kirsch | first2=J.A. | last3=Matheus | first3=J.C. | date=1997 | title=DNA hybridization evidence for the principal lineages of hummingbirds (Aves:Trochilidae). | journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution | volume=14 | issue=3 | pages=325–343 | doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025767 | pmid=9066799 | doi-access=free}} The Latin names are those proposed by Dickinson and Remsen in 2013.{{sfn|Dickinson|Remsen|2013|pp=105–136}}

{{Clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:90%

|label1=Trochilidae

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Florisuginae – topazes

|2=Phaethornithinae – hermits

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Polytminae – mangoes

|2={{clade

|label1=Lesbiinae

|1={{clade

|1=Heliantheini – brilliants

|2=Lesbiini – coquettes

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Patagoninae – giant hummingbird

|label2=Trochilinae

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Lampornithini – mountain gems

|2=Mellisugini – bees

}}

|2=Trochilini – emeralds

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

The cladogram below shows the relationships between the genera and is based on a molecular phylogenetic study by Yuyini Licona-Vera and Juan Francisco Ornelas published in 2017. The results are in agreement with the phylogeny by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published in 2014.

{{clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:90%

|label1=Mellisugini

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|label1=woodstars

|1={{clade

|1=Tilmatura – sparkling-tailed woodstar

|2={{clade

|1=Calliphlox – amethyst woodstar

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Thaumastura – Peruvian sheartail

|2=Myrmia – short-tailed woodstar

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Myrtis – purple-collared woodstar

|2=Rhodopis – oasis hummingbird

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Eulidia – Chilean woodstar

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Microstilbon – slender-tailed woodstar

|2=Chaetocercus – woodstars (6 species)

}}

|2=Philodice – woodstars (2 species)

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|label1=sheartails

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Calothorax – sheartails (2 species)

|2=Doricha – sheartails (2 species)

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Archilochus – hummingbirds (2 species)

|2={{clade

|1=Nesophlox – woodstars (2 species)

|2=Mellisuga – hummingbirds (2 species)

}}

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Calypte – hummingbirds (2 species)

|2=Selasphorus – hummingbirds (9 species)

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

The genus Calliphlox was found to be polyphyletic. As part of the revised classification to create monophyletic genera, the Bahama woodstar and the Inagua woodstar were moved to the resurrected genus Nesophlox. Later, the genus Philodice was resurrected to accommodate the purple-throated woodstar and the amethyst woodstar.{{ cite web | last1=Donsker | first1=David B. | last2=Rasmussen | first2=Pamela C. | last3=Mason | first3=Nicholas A. | date=September 2020 | title=Proposal 886: Resurrect Philodice as a separate genus from Calliphlox | publisher=South American Classification Committee, American Ornithological Society | url=https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop886.htm | access-date=12 January 2020 }}{{ cite report | last1=Donsker | first1=David B. | last2=Rasmussen | first2=Pamela C. | last3=Mason | first3=Nicholas A. | date=8 September 2020 | title=Proposal 2021-A-12: Resurrect Philodice as a separate genus from Calliphlox | publisher=North American Classification Committee, American Ornithological Society | pages=63–66| url=https://americanornithology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2021-A-revised.pdf#page=63 }}

The genus Atthis containing the wine-throated hummingbird and the bumblebee hummingbird was embedded within Selasphorus. The genera were therefore merged and as under the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature Selasphorus has priory over Atthis the two species were moved to Selasphorus.

The males of most species in the tribe Mellisugini have specialized tail feathers that produce sounds during their courtship display. This is not restricted to this tribe as males in the genus Discosura belonging to the tribe Lesbiini (coquettes) can also produce sounds from their tail feathers.{{Cite journal | last1=Clark | first1=C.J. | last2=Elias | first2=D.O. | last3=Prum | first3=R.O. | date=2011 | title=Aeroelastic flutter produces hummingbird feather songs | journal=Science | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51635487 | volume=333 | issue=6048 | pages=1430–1433 | doi=10.1126/science.1205222| pmid=21903810 | bibcode=2011Sci...333.1430C | s2cid=12248122 }}{{Cite journal | last1=Clark | first1=C.J. | last2=McGuire | first2=J.A. | last3=Bonaccorso | first3=E. | last4=Berv | first4=J.S. | last5=Prum | first5=R.O. | date=2018 | title=Complex coevolution of wing, tail, and vocal sounds of courting male bee hummingbirds | journal=Evolution | volume=72 | issue=3 | pages=630–646 | doi=10.1111/evo.13432| pmid=29380351 | doi-access=free }}

Most of the migratory hummingbirds are found in this tribe. Remarkable examples are the rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) that breeds as far north as western Canada and Alaska and overwinters in Mexico and the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) that breeds in the eastern United States and then crosses the Gulf of Mexico to winter in Mexico and Central America. There are five other long-distance migrants in the tribe: the broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus), the calliope hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope), Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), the black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) and the lucifer sheartail (Calothorax lucifer). It is likely that migratory behaviour has evolved several times.{{Cite journal | last1=Licona-Vera | first1=Yuyini | last2=Ornelas | first2=Juan Francisco | date=2017 | title=The conquering of North America: dated phylogenetic and biogeographic inference of migratory behavior in bee hummingbirds | journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume=17 | issue=1 | pages=126 | doi=10.1186/s12862-017-0980-5 | pmid=28583078 | pmc=5460336 | doi-access=free| bibcode=2017BMCEE..17..126L }}

The tribe contains 17 genera.

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{{refbegin}}

• {{ cite book | editor-last1=Dickinson | editor-first1=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor-last2=Remsen | editor-first2=J.V. Jr. | editor2-link=James Van Remsen, Jr. | year=2013 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=1: Non-passerines | edition=4th | place=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-0-8 }}

{{refend}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q105082007}}

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Category:Bird tribes