Two overlooked generic synonyms in the Thraupidae (Aves: Passeriformes).

In a revision of the generic classification of the tanagers, Burns et al. (2016) proposed the name Islerothraupis with type species Tanagra cristata Linnaeus, 1766 (long known as Tachyphonus cristatus); however, they overlooked a previous designation of that species as the type of a genus. In 1821, Feliks Pawel Jarocki, in the second volume of Zoologiia czyli Zwiérzetopismo Ogólne podlug Naynowszego Systematu ulozone ("Zoology, or general natural history account according to the newest arranged system"), page 133, specified Tanagra cristata as the type of a proposed subgenus Loriotus. The original text in Polish is available at the website www.rcin.org.pl, the Digital Repository of Scientific Institutes, which has made a wide diversity of scholarship in Polish available over the Internet. The original description of Loriotus, in parallel with other names Jarocki introduced in his Zoologiia, is minimal: "Dziób ostro konczysty, cokolwiek zgiety. Zuchwy sczeki spodniey przy nasadzie bardzo malo zgrubiale." (Bill ending in a point, somewhat curved. Lower mandible slightly thickened at base.).

A genus-level classification of the family Thraupidae (Class Aves: Order Passeriformes).

The tanagers (Thraupidae) are a major component of the Neotropical avifauna, and vary in plumage colors, behaviors, morphologies, and ecologies. Globally, they represent nearly 4% of all avian species and are the largest family of songbirds. However, many currently used tanager genera are not monophyletic, based on analyses of molecular data that have accumulated over the past 25 years. Current genus-level classifications of tanagers have not been revised according to newly documented relationships of tanagers for various reasons: 1) the lack of a comprehensive phylogeny, 2) reluctance to lump existing genera into larger groups, and 3) the lack of available names for newly defined smaller groups. Here, we present two alternative classifications based on a newly published comprehensive phylogeny of tanagers. One of these classifications uses existing generic names, but defines them broadly. The other, which we advocate and follow here, provides new generic names for more narrowly defined groups. Under the latter, we propose eleven new genera (Asemospiza, Islerothraupis, Maschalethraupis, Chrysocorypha, Kleinothraupis, Castanozoster, Ephippiospingus, Chionodacryon, Pseudosaltator, Poecilostreptus, Stilpnia), and resurrect several generic names to form monophyletic taxa. Either of these classifications would allow taxonomic authorities to reconcile classification with current understanding of tanager phylogenetic relationships. Having a more phylogenetically accurate classification for tanagers will facilitate the study and conservation of this important Neotropical radiation of songbirds.