Orthopsittaca, Ridgway, 1912

Smith, Brian Tilston, Thom, Gregory & Joseph, Leo, 2024, Revised Evolutionary And Taxonomic Synthesis For Parrots (Order: Psittaciformes) Guided By Phylogenomic Analysis, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2024 (468), pp. 1-87 : 45

Orthopsittaca

Orthopsittaca manilatus of Amazonian savannas and swamp forests is predominantly dark green but for its large patch of bare facial skin and maroon abdominal (belly) patch, thus resembling some of the more plainly plumaged species of Pyrrhura . It is diet-specialized to Mauritia palms within which it also nests ( Forshaw and Knight, 2010). Despite its large geographic distribution across Amazonia, no subspecies have been described. After Cyanopsitta , it represents the next divergence in the macaws, sharing a common ancestor with Ara and Primolius , 7.4 Mya (3.1–10.4; fig. 9).

Lastly, here, we make a nomenclatural note about this species. Whitney’s (1996) reinstatement of monotypic Orthopsittaca Ridgway, 1912 , for this species has since become conventional. When Ridgway (1912) introduced Orthopsittaca , however, he cited Orthopsittaca manilata as the type species, implying that manilata was adjectival and feminine. Dickinson and Remsen (2013), in contrast, argued that usage should return to the masculine form manilatus of the species epithet, i.e., Orthopsittaca manilatus , noting that the name manilatus was invariable. We have been advised (see Acknowledgments) that in Boddaert’s (1783: 52) naming of the bird as Psittacus manilatus , the specific epithet manilatus means “broad hand.” We are further advised that under Article 31.2.1 of ICZN (1999) Orthopsittaca manilatus would be the correct nomenclature. Patterns of usage also argue that despite a long familiarity of the feminine manilata when the species was in Ara and since Orthopsittaca was reinstated by Whitney (1996), the masculine manilatus has prevailed since Dickinson and Remsen (2013). A cursory “Catalog” search of the Biodiversity Heritage Library on 19 March 2024 returned 52 instances of Orthopsittaca manilata , only two of which were later than 2013, and eight instances of O. manilatus all of which were after 2013. Further, other global checklists (e.g., Clements et al., 2022; Gill et al., 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) have used manilatus . Given the apparent trend toward the use of manilatus since 2013, we concede, albeit reluctantly, that usage of Orthopsittaca manilatus should remain.