| Zosterops | |
|---|---|
 Malagasy White-eye (Zosterops maderaspatanus) | |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Zosteropidae |
| Genus | Zosterops |
Zosterops (meaning "eye-girdle") is a genus of passerines containing typical white-eyes. They are traditionally placed in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae, which, however, is now considered part of the Timaliidae.
This genus has the highest number of species among the white-eyes by far. They occur in the Afrotropic ecoregion, the Indomalaya zone, and the Australasia ecozone. Typical white-eyes can reach a length between 8 and 15 cm. Their most characteristic feature is the conspicuous white-feather ring around the eye, though some species lack it. The species in this group vary in the structural adaptations of the tongue
Systematics[]
A review of new DNA sequence data (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006) suggests the genus might not be monophyletic. Few species have been researched, however, with the highest density of sampled taxa being from Micronesia. There, it appears, a more distinct eastern lineage and a western one closer to East Asian species occur. The relationships of the former to the Rukia white-eyes need investigation.
It contains the following species:
Abyssinian White-eye (Guérin-Méneville, 1843) (Zosterops abyssinicus) White-chested White-eye (Gould, 1837) (Zosterops albogularis) Black-ringed White-eye (Meyer & Wiglesworth, 1896) (Zosterops anomalus) Black-capped White-eye (Salvadori, 1879) (Zosterops atricapilla) (formerly atricapillus) Cream-throated White-eye (Gray, 1860) (Zosterops atriceps) Black-crowned White-eye (Ogilvie-Grant, 1910) (Zosterops atrifrons) Sulawesi Black-crowned White-eye (Zosterops (atrifrons) subatrifrons) Réunion Grey White-eye (JR Forster, 1781) (Zosterops borbonicus) Fernando Po Speirops (Salvadori, 1903) (Zosterops brunneus) Buru White-eye (Salvadori, 1878) (Zosterops buruensis) Sri Lanka White-eye (Holdsworth, 1872) (Zosterops ceylonensis) Kosrae White-eye (Kittlitz, 1832) (Zosterops cinereus) Ashy-bellied White-eye (Bonaparte, 1850) (Zosterops citrinella) (formerly citrinellus) Lemon-bellied White-eye (Bonaparte, 1850) (Zosterops chloris) Mauritius Olive White-eye (Vieillot, 1817) (Zosterops chloronothos) Bridled White-eye (Kittlitz, 1832) (Zosterops conspicillatus) (possibly poly- or paraphyletic) Pale-bellied White-eye (Meyer, 1904) (Zosterops consobrinorum) Chestnut-flanked White-eye (Swinhoe, 1863) (Zosterops erythropleurus) Everett's White-eye (Tweeddale, 1878) (Zosterops everetti) Fiji White-eye (Layard, 1875) (Zosterops explorator) São Tomé White-eye (Salvadori, 1901) (Zosterops feae) Príncipe White-eye (Hartlaub, 1866) (Zosterops ficedulinus) Dusky White-eye (Hartlaub, 1868) (Zosterops finschii) Vanuatu White-eye (Gmelin, 1789) (Zosterops flavifrons) Javan White-eye (Horsfield, 1821) (Zosterops flavus) Capped White-eye (Salvadori, 1875) (Zosterops fuscicapilla) (formerly fuscicapillus) Vanikoro White-eye (Dutson, 2008) (Zosterops gibbsi) Pearl-bellied White-eye (Wallace, 1864) (Zosterops grayi) Louisiade White-eye (Gray, 1858) (Zosterops griseotinctus) Annobón White-eye (Barboza du Bocage, 1893) (Zosterops griseovirescens) Plain White-eye (Hartlaub & Finsch, 1872) (Zosterops hypolais) Bismarck White-eye (Salvadori, 1881) (Zosterops hypoxanthus) Large Lifou White-eye (Layard, 1878) (Zosterops inornatus) Japanese White-eye (Temminck & Schlegel, 1847) (Zosterops japonicus) Kirk's White-eye (Shelley, 1880) (Zosterops kirki) Ambon White-eye (Hartert, 1906) (Zosterops kuehni) Solomons White-eye (Rothschild & Hartert, 1901) (Zosterops kulambangrae) Silvereye (Latham, 1801) (Zosterops lateralis) Lord Howe Silvereye (Zosterops (lateralis) tephropleurus) (formerly tephropleurus) Príncipe Speirops (Hartlaub, 1857) (Zosterops leucophoeus) Black-capped Speirops (Hartlaub, 1848) (Zosterops lugubris) Gizo White-eye (Hartlaub, 1904) (Zosterops luteirostris) Canary White-eye (Gould, 1843) (Zosterops luteus) Malagasy White-eye (Linnaeus, 1766) (Zosterops maderaspatanus) Mauritius Grey White-eye (JF Gmelin, 1789) (Zosterops mauritianus) Mayotte White-eye (Schlegel, 1866) (Zosterops mayottensis) Tagula White-eye (Hartert, 1898) (Zosterops meeki) Mount Cameroon Speirops (Gray, 1862) (Zosterops melanocephalus) Yellow-throated White-eye (Tristram, 1894) (Zosterops metcalfii) Lowland White-eye (Bonaparte, 1850) (Zosterops meyeni) Black-fronted White-eye (Meyer, 1874) (Zosterops minor) (sometimes included in atrifrons) Small Lifou White-eye (Layard, 1878) (Zosterops minutus) Seychelles White-eye (E. Newton, 1867) (Zosterops modestus) Mountain White-eye (Bonaparte, 1850) (Zosterops montanus) Karthala White-eye (Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1885) (Zosterops mouroniensis) Kolombangara White-eye (Hartert, 1929) (Zosterops murphyi) Biak White-eye (Meyer, 1874) (Zosterops mysorensis) Christmas White-eye (Lister, 1889) (Zosterops natalis) Sangihe White-eye (Blasius, 1888) (Zosterops nehrkorni) (formerly in atrifrons) Papuan White-eye (Salvadori, 1878) (Zosterops novaeguineae) Yellowish White-eye (Tweeddale, 1878) (Zosterops nigrorum) Olive-colored White-eye (Hartlaub & Finsch, 1872) (Zosterops oleagineus) (sometimes placed in Rukia, as R. oleaginea) Réunion Olive White-eye (Linnaeus, 1766) (Zosterops olivaceus) Orange River White-eye (Swainson, 1838) (Zosterops pallidus) Oriental White-eye (Temminck, 1824) (Zosterops palpebrosus) Montane White-eye (Heuglin, 1861) (Zosterops poliogastrus) (formerly poliogaster) Kulal White-eye (Zosterops (poliogastrus) kulalensis) Taita White-eye (Zosterops (poliogastrus) silvanus) South Pare White-eye (Zosterops (poliogastrus) winifredae) Kikuyu White-eye (Zosterops (poliogastrus) kikuyuensis) Mbulu White-eye (Zosterops (poliogastrus) mbuluensis) Grey-brown White-eye (Finsch, 1876) (Zosterops ponapensis) Grey-throated White-eye (Tristram, 1882) (Zosterops rendovae) Rennell White-eye (Murphy, 1929) (Zosterops rennellianus) Rota White-eye (Taka-Tsukasa & Yamashina, 1931) (Zosterops rotensis) (formerly in conspicillatus) Enggano White-eye (Meyer & Wiglesworth, 1894) (Zosterops salvadorii) Samoan White-eye (Murphy & Mathews, 1929) (Zosterops samoensis) Santa Cruz White-eye (Tristram, 1894) (Zosterops santaecrucis) †Marianne White-eye (E. Newton, 1867) (Zosterops semiflavus) Citrine White-eye (Hartlaub, 1868) (Zosterops semperi) African Yellow White-eye (Bonaparte, 1850) (Zosterops senegalensis) Togian White-eye (Indrawan, Rasmussen, and Sunarto, 2008) (Zosterops somadikartai) Ranongga White-eye (Hartlaub, 1929) (Zosterops splendidus) Wangi Wangi White-eye (2003) (Zosterops sp.) Seram White-eye (Ogilvie-Grant, 1910) (Zosterops stalkeri) (formerly in atrifrons) Forest White-eye (Reichenow, 1892) (Zosterops stenocricotus) †Robust White-eye (Gould, 1855) (Zosterops strenuus) (formerly strenua Malaita White-eye (Mayr, 1931) (Zosterops stresemanni) Slender-billed White-eye (Gould, 1837) (Zosterops tenuirostris) Dark-eyed White-eye (Murphy, 1929) (Zosterops tetiparius) Green-backed White-eye (Gray, 1859) (Zosterops xanthochroa) (formerly xanthochrous) Golden-bellied White-eye (Salvadori, 1874) (Zosterops uropygialis) Pemba White-eye (Bannerman, 1924) (Zosterops vaughani) Vella Lavella White-eye (Hartert, 1908) (Zosterops vellalavella) Cape White-eye (Sundevall, 1850) (Zosterops virens) Yellow-ringed White-eye (Finsch, 1901) (Zosterops wallacei)