Genus: Colius
Description
Four species of Mousebird from Africa. They have been called "living fossils" because their lineage includes the last survivors of a much larger and more diverse group of birds that lived during the late Paleogene and Miocene. Although they are superficially passerine-like, they do not have the typical passerine foot structure. They sometimes hang from a branch with all four toes pointing forward. This toe arrangement is called syndactylous and the only other birds with syndactylous toes are the swifts.
Taxonomy
Mousebirds are placed in their own order, the Coliiformes. This is the only order of birds confined to Sub-Saharan Africa. Colius is a genus in the family Coliidae.
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| C. striatus | Speckled Mousebird | ||
| C. leucocephalus | White-headed Mousebird | ||
| C. castanotus | Red-backed Mousebird | ||
| C. colius | White-backed Mousebird | ||
Pages in category ‘Colius’
The following 4 pages are in this category, out of 4 total.
