Hemixos


Hemixos is a songbird genus in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae.

Taxonomy and systematics

Established by Edward Blyth in 1845 for the newly discovered ashy bulbul, this genus contains four extant species.
Some treatments merge the genus into Hypsipetes, often together with the rest of the traditional "Hypsipetes group" of bulbuls: Iole, Ixos, Microscelis and Tricholestes. But in this case, the closely related genera Alophoixus and Setornis would probably also have to be included, and as soon as the earliest described genus, Ixos, is merged with another its name would apply.
In fact, Hemixos is not particularly close to Hypsipetes, and a merger is not well justified. mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunits 2 and 3 and nDNA β-fibrinogen intron 7 sequence data puts it closer to the streaked bulbul. But whether that species represents the core group of Ixos - around its type species I. virescens -, or a distinct lineage worthy of separation in a new genus - in which case Hypsipetes might be merged into the core group of Ixos - has not been studied. In any case, though minor, the Hemixos lineage with its stark white throat and light wing patches seems well distinct.

Extant species

Three species are currently recognised:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Ashy bulbulHemixos flavalaHimalayas, Patkai, Yunnan and Indochina
-Cinereous bulbulHemixos cinereuswestern Malesia
Chestnut bulbulHemixos castanonotussouthern China and Hainan

Former species

Previously, some authorities also classified the following species as species within the genus Hemixos: