Paradisaea

Paradisaea
Raggiana bird-of-paradise
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paradisaeidae
Genus: Paradisaea
Linnaeus, 1758
Subgenera
  • Paradisaea
  • Paradisornis

The genus Paradisaea consists of seven species of birds-of-paradise (family Paradisaeidae). The genus is found on the island of New Guinea as well as the nearby islands groups of the Aru Islands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands and West Papua Islands. The species inhabit a range of forest types from sea level to mid-montane forests. Several species have highly restricted distributions, and all species have disjunct distributions.[1] A 2009 study examining the mitochondrial DNA of the family found that the Paradisaea birds-of-paradise were in a clade with the genus Cicinnurus. It showed that the blue bird-of-paradise was a sister taxon to all the other species in this genus.[2]

All are large, and sexually dimorphic. The plumage of the males includes characteristic grossly elongated flank plumes (which emerge from beneath the wings and strictly speaking are flank plumes pectoral plumes), and a pair of wire-like feathers emerging from the end of the tail. The flank plumes are used during breeding displays.[1]

The name, Paradisaea, is the Latinized form of paradise. The local name in Indonesia is Cenderawasih, which means gift of love.

Species

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Firth, Clifford B.; Firth, Dawn W. (2009), "Family Paradisaeidae (Birds-of-paradise)", in del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David, Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14, Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 404–459, ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7
  2. ↑ Irested, Martin; Jønsson, Knud A; Fjeldså, Jon; Christidis, Les and Per GP Ericson (2009). "An unexpectedly long history of sexual selection in birds-of-paradise". Evolutionary Biology 9 (235). doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-235.
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