Tunchiornis, Slager, David L. & Klicka, John, 2014

Slager, David L. & Klicka, John, 2014, Polyphyly of Hylophilus and a new genus for the Tawny-crowned Greenlet (Aves: Passeriformes: Vireonidae), Zootaxa 3884 (2), pp. 194-196 : 195

Tunchiornis , gen. nov.

Type species. Hylophilus ochraceiceps Sclater

Included species. Tunchiornis ochraceiceps (Sclater) comb. nov., Tawny-crowned Greenlet

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other extant greenlets by 1) russet rectrices (vs. green in other species; Ridgway 1904, Brewer 2010), 2) rufous undertail coverts (vs. white to yellowish in other species; Brewer 2010), 3) occurrence in understory of forest interior (vs. other species which frequently occupy scrub, forest edge, or forest canopy; Ridgely and Tudor 1989), 4) extremely simple, whistled song (vs. more complex songs in other species; Ridgely and Tudor 1989), and 5) strong molecular divergence in DNA characters ( Slager et al. 2014). Further distinguished from Pachysylvia and Hylophilus (at least for the several species examined by Rand (1959) — P. decurtata , H. flavipes , H. thoracicus , H. poicilotis , and H. pectoralis ) by the latiplanar tarsus, "the back of the tarsus smoothly rounded, non-scutellate, and without a break at the midline" (vs. tarsus acutiplanar in most other oscines; Rand 1959).

Description. Descriptions of Tunchiornis ochraceiceps have been published elsewhere [e.g. Sclater 1859 (original species description), Ridgway 1904, Hellmayr 1935, Skutch 1960, Brewer 2010].

Etymology. In reference to the simple, whistled song and forest interior understory habitat of the genus, the name Tunchiornis derives from El Tunche, the whistling jungle spirit of western Amazonian mythology ( Schjellerup et al. 2003). The gender of Tunchiornis is masculine.

"scrub" Hy'ophi'us Cyc/arhis

vireο/anius Hy'ophi'us ochraceiceps

"canopy" Hy'ophi'us vireο hypοchryseus*

"spectacǀed" +

"eye-ringed" vireο

vireο ο/ivaceus cǀade

vireο gi/vus cǀade Hy'ophi'us sc'ateri