Mellisuga
Genus of birds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mellisuga is a genus of hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae. They are notable for being the first and second smallest bird species in the world.
Quick Facts Mellisuga, Scientific classification ...
Mellisuga | |
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Mellisuga helenae | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Strisores |
Order: | Apodiformes |
Family: | Trochilidae |
Tribe: | Mellisugini |
Genus: | Mellisuga Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Trochilus minimus Linnaeus, 1758 |
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The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the vervain hummingbird as the type species.[1][2] The name Mellisuga is a combination of the Latin words mel or mellis, meaning "honey" and sugere, meaning "to suck".[3]