Lepidothrix


Lepidothrix is a genus of passerine birds in the manakin family Pipridae. Birds in the genus are predominantly found in South America, but one species, the velvety manakin, also ranges into Central America. Females have green plumage with yellow bellies, as do some males. Other males have black plumage with white or blue crowns, and some have yellow bellies or blue rumps.

Taxonomy

The genus Lepidothrix was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The type species was subsequently designated as the blue-capped manakin. The name Lepidothrix combines the Ancient Greek words λεπις lepis, λεπιδος lepidos "scale, flake" and θριξ thrix, τριχος trikhos "hair". A new genus name Neolepidothrix, was proposed in 2009 due to a suggestion that it was a junior homonym of the extinct silverfish Lepidotrix, however it was later shown that the original spelling of the silverfish genus was not same, so therefore the genera were not homonymous.
The genus contains nine species:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Lepidothrix velutinaVelvety manakinColombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama
Lepidothrix coronataBlue-capped manakinBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Lepidothrix suavissimaOrange-bellied manakinsouthern Venezuela, far northern Brazil, and central Guyana
Lepidothrix serenaWhite-fronted manakinSurname and French Guiana
Lepidothrix irisOpal-crowned manakinBrazil
Lepidothrix vilasboasiGolden-crowned manakinBrazil
Lepidothrix nattereriSnow-capped manakinAmazon Basin of Brazil and far north-eastern Bolivia
Lepidothrix isidoreiBlue-rumped manakinColombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Lepidothrix coeruleocapillaCerulean-capped manakinPeru