Penelopides

Tarictic hornbills
Penelopides panini
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Bucerotiformes
Family: Bucerotidae
Genus: Penelopides
L. Reichenbach, 1849
Species

2-6, see text

Penelopides is the genus of relatively small, primarily frugivorous hornbills found in forests of the Philippines and the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Their common name, tarictic hornbills, is an onomatopoetic reference to the main call of several of them. They have a ridged plate-like structure on the base of their mandible. All are sexually dimorphic: males of all except the Sulawesi Hornbill are whitish-buff and black, while females of all except the Mindoro Hornbill are primarily black.

Taxonomy

While the taxonomic history of the Sulawesi hornbill has been uneventful, the number of species in the Philippine Archipelago has been greatly debated. Traditionally, only a single Philippine species was recognized, the tarictic hornbill (P. panini). Following a review, it was recommended that it should be split into four allopatric species, the Visayan (P. panini), Luzon (P. manillae), Mindanao (P. affinis), and Mindoro (P. mindorensis). Today most authorities accept this split, although some have recommended splitting the Samar (P. samarensis) from the Mindanao.

References