White-eared Night Heron Gorsachius magnificus
White-backed Night Heron Gorsachius leuconotus
White-eared Night Heron and White-backed Night Heron have been placed either in the genus Nycticorax (e.g. Payne 1979) or in Gorsachius (e.g. Dickinson & Remsen 2013). Phylogenetic analyses based on complete mitochondrial genome sequences have placed White-eared Night Heron sister to Egretta and distant from Goisakius goisagi and G. melanolophus (Zhou et al. 2016, Tu et al. 2017). A recent phylogenomic analysis has placed White-eared Night Heron and White-backed Night Heron as sister taxa distant from G. goisagi and G. melanolophus (Hruska et al. 2023). Consequently, each pair of species must be placed in different genera. The type species of Goisakius is G. goisagi and therefore that genus name is valid for G. goisagi and G. melanolophus. The oldest genus name for White-eared Night Heron and White-backed Night Heron is Calherodius Bonaparte, 1855, with Oroanassa Peters, 1930, as a junior synonym. Thus, the scientific names of White-eared Night Heron and White-backed Night Heron become:
• White-eared Night Heron Calherodius magnificus
• White-backed Night Heron Calherodius leuconotus.
Dickinson, E.C. & Remsen, J.V. (eds) 2013. The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the world. Fourth edition, vol. 1: Non-Passerines. London: Aves Press.
Hruska, J.P., Holmes, J., Oliveros, C., Shakya, S., Lavretsky, P., McCracken, K.G., Sheldon, F.H. & Moyle, R.G. 2023. Ultraconserved elements resolve the phylogeny and corroborate patterns of molecular rate variation in herons (Aves: Ardeidae). Ornithology 140, ukad005.
Payne, R.B. 1979. Family Ardeidae. In: Mayr, E. & Cottrell, G.W. (eds.). Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 1. Second edition. Mus. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp. 193–244.
Tu, F., Tang, S., Yan, C. & Huang, X. 2017. Complete mitogenome of Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia (Ciconiiformes: Ardeidae). Mitochondrial DNA Part B 2: 510–511.
Zhou, X., Yao, C., Lin, Q., Fang, W., & Chen, X. 2016. Complete mitochondrial genomes render the night heron genus Gorsachius non-monophyletic. J. Ornithol. 157: 505–513.
