Zosterops


Zosterops is a genus of passerine birds containing the typical white-eyes in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The genus has the largest number of species in the white-eye family. They occur in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian realms. Typical white-eyes have a length of between. Their most characteristic feature is a conspicuous white feather ring around the eye, though some species lack it. The species in this group vary in the structural adaptations of the tongue. The Zosterops group is an example of a "great speciator" inhabiting a vast area and showing a remarkable morphological differentiation on islands, some of which may be as close as apart.

Systematics

The genus Zosterops was introduced by the naturalists Nicholas Vigors and Thomas Horsfield in 1827. The name combines the Ancient Greek words zōstēros "belt" or "girdle" and ōpos "eye". The type species was designated as the Malagasy white-eye by René Lesson in 1828.
The results of a series of molecular phylogenetic studies of the Zosteropidae published between 2014 and 2018 prompted a major revision of species limits, in which 10 new genera were introduced. In the reorganisation, the English names of three of the existing genera were replaced.
Additionally, a study on Sri Lanka white-eyes and Indian white-eyes suggests that the Sri Lanka white-eye is the root species and the origin of all Zosterops species. This raises questions upon the former theory of Southeast Asian origin.

Species

There are over 100 species in the genus. This includes three species that have become extinct since the 16th century.