Serinus

Serinus is a genus of small birds in the finch family Fringillidae found in West Asia, Europe and Africa. The birds usually have some yellow in their plumage. The genus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch.^[2][3] Its name is Neo-Latin for "canary-yellow".^[4]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

Serinus
Male European serin (Serinus serinus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	Serinus Koch, 1816
Type species
Serinus hortulanus[1] Koch, 1816
Species
See text.

Close

Many species were at one time assigned to the genus but it became clear from phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that the genus was polyphyletic.^[5][6][7] This was confirmed by Dario Zuccon and coworkers in a comprehensive study of the finch family published in 2012. The authors suggested splitting the genus into two monophyletic groups, a proposal that was accepted by the International Ornithologists' Union. The genus Serinus was restricted to the European serin and seven other species while a larger clade from Africa and Arabia was assigned to the resurrected genus Crithagra.^[8][9]

The genus contains eight species:^[9]

More information Image, Scientific name ...

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Serinus pusillus	Red-fronted serin	Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine
	Serinus serinus	European serin	southern and central Europe and North Africa
	Serinus syriacus	Syrian serin	Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
	Serinus canaria	Atlantic canary	the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira
	Serinus canicollis	Cape canary	southern Africa
	Serinus flavivertex	Yellow-crowned canary	eastern Africa
	Serinus nigriceps	Ethiopian siskin	Ethiopia
	Serinus alario	Black-headed canary	Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa

Close