Gavicalis

Gavicalis is a genus of honeyeaters endemic to New Guinea and Australia. It contains former members of Lichenostomus, and was created after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the original genus was polyphyletic.^[2]

Gavicalis
Gavicalis virescens (singing honeyeater)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Meliphagidae
Genus:	Gavicalis Schodde & Mason, IJ, 1999
Type species
Melithreptus virescens^[1] Vieillot, 1817

The genus contains three species:^[3]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Gavicalis versicolor	Varied honeyeater	New Guinea, northeast Australia
	Gavicalis fasciogularis	Mangrove honeyeater	east Australia
	Gavicalis virescens	Singing honeyeater	Australia

The name Gavicalis was first proposed by the Australian ornithologists Richard Schodde and Ian Mason in 1999.^[4] The word is an anagram of Caligavis introduced by Tom Iredale.^[5]

References

1. "Melaphagidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Nyári, Á.S.; Joseph, L. (2011). "Systematic dismantlement of Lichenostomus improves the basis for understanding relationships within the honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) and historical development of Australo–Papuan bird communities". Emu. 111 (3): 202–211. doi:10.1071/mu10047. S2CID 85333285.
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Honeyeaters". World Bird List Version 6.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
4. Schodde, Richard; Mason, Ian J. (1999). The directory of Australian birds : a taxonomic and zoogeographic atlas of the biodiversity of birds in Australia and its territories. Collingwood, VIC Australia: CSIRO. pp. 1–851. ISBN 978-064306456-0.
5. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.