Buceros


Buceros, from Ancient Greek βοῦς, meaning "ox", and κέρας, meaning "horn", is a genus of large Asian hornbills.

Description

s in the genus Buceros include some of the largest arboreal hornbills in the world, with the largest being the great hornbill. All the hornbills in this genus have a large and hollow bony casque on their upper beak that can be useful to scientists and bird watchers to recognise their age, sex and species. Their wingspan can be up to 1.8 meters and they have the largest wingspan out of all the hornbills.

Taxonomy

The genus Buceros was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The name comes from Ancient Greek βοῦς, meaning "ox", and κέρας, meaning "horn". The type species was designated as the rhinoceros hornbill by Daniel Giraud Elliot in 1882.

Species

The genus contains three species:
The helmeted hornbill is sometimes included in this genus, but today most authorities place it in the monotypic Rhinoplax instead.