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Molothrus

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Description

Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin. They are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molothrus, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	2484385	https://www.gbif.org/species/2484385
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	129846	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=129846

Rank

genus

Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Icteridae : Molothrus

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
subclass	Eureptilia
-	Romeriida	Gauthier et al. 1988
-	Diapsida
-	Eosuchia
-	Neodiapsida	Benton 1985
-	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
-	Archosauromorpha
-	Crocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
-	Eucrocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauria
informal	Avemetatarsalia	Benton 1999
-	Ornithodira	Gauthier 1986
-	Dinosauromorpha	Benton 1985
-	Dinosauriformes	Novas 1992
-	Dinosauria
-	Saurischia
-	Theropoda
-	Neotheropoda	Bakker 1986
-	Averostra	Paul 2002
-	Tetanurae	Gauthier 1986
order	Avetheropoda	Paul 1988
suborder	Coelurosauria	Huene 1914
-	Maniraptora	Gauthier 1986
-	Paraves	Sereno 1997
class	Aves	Linnaeus 1758
-	Pygostylia	Chiappe 2002
-	Ornithothoraces	Chiappe and Calvo 1994
-	Ornithuromorpha	Chiappe et al. 1999
subclass	Ornithurae	Haeckel 1866
subclass	Neornithes	Gadow 1893
-	Neognathae
-	Neoaves	Sibley et al. 1988
-	Terrestrornithes	Livezey and Zusi 2007
-	Dendrornithes
-	Anomalogonates	Garrod 1874
-	Picoclamatores	Livezey and Zusi 2007
superorder	Passerimorphae	Sibley et al. 1988
order	Passeriformes	Linnaeus 1758
family	Icteridae	Vigors 1825
genus	Molothrus	Swainson 1832

Scientific Name

Molothrus Swainson, 1832

Name Published In

Fauna Bor.-Am. [Swainson & Richardson] 2 [1831] p.

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Molothrus	genus	belongs to Icteridae	stated without evidence	Wetmore, 1962
Molothrus	genus	belongs to Icteridae	stated with evidence	Clements et al., 2017

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

Extant Size (PBDB)

3 (100%)

First Recorded Appearance

1.81 - 0.78 Ma
Pleistocene

Environment

terrestrial (based on Icteridae)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Theropoda)

Diet

insectivore, frugivore (based on Icteridae)

Reproduction

oviparous, dispersal=direct/internal,mobile (based on Theropoda)

Ontogeny

accretion,modification of parts (based on Theropoda)

Taphonomy

hydroxylapatite,compact or dense (based on Theropoda)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

A. Wetmore. 1962. Notes on fossil and subfossil birds. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 145(2):1-17

Common Name(s)

Cowbirds

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molothrus

External Images

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Molothrus aeneus species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Bronzed Cowbird	1	0.30 Ma Pleistocene	0 Ma Extant
Molothrus ater species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Brown-headed Cowbird	7	1.81 Ma Pleistocene	0 Ma Extant
Molothrus bonariensis species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Molothrus cassini species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Molothrus minimus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Molothrus oryzivorus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Molothrus rufoaxillaris species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB

Obsolete Names

Name	Source	Taxon Rank	Taxonomy
Scaphidura Swainson, 1837	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Icteridae : *Scaphidura*
Tangavius Lesson, 1839	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Icteridae : *Tangavius*
Tangarius Sharpe, 1909	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Icteridae : *Tangarius*
Molobrus Cabanis, 1851	GBIF	genus	Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Icteridae : *Molobrus*

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1832	Molothrus Swainson
1962	Molothrus Wetmore p. 14
2017	Molothrus Clements et al.

References

Wetmore A. (1962) Notes on fossil and subfossil birds, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 145 2, 1-17

Clements J. F., Schulenberg T. S., et al (2017) , The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017

Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes, 2003: null. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, and A. L. Gardner, 1987: Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada. Resource Publication, no. 166. 79. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

CoL2006 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Nomenclator Zoologicus (authority adjusted) - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

SN2000/Monroe Jr. & Sibley, 1993 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

in Richardson, F. Bor.-Amer., 2, 1831, 275, 277 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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