Lepidothrix is a genus of passerine birds in the manakin family Pipridae. Birds in the genus are predominantly found in South America, but one species, the velvety manakin, also ranges into Central America. Females have green plumage with yellow bellies, as do some males. Other males have black plumage with white or blue crowns, and some have yellow bellies or blue rumps.
Taxonomy
The genus Lepidothrix was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The type species was subsequently designated as the blue-capped manakin. The name Lepidothrix combines the Ancient Greek words λεπις lepis, λεπιδος lepidos "scale, flake" and θριξ thrix, τριχος trikhos "hair". A new genus name Neolepidothrix, was proposed in 2009 due to a suggestion that it was a junior homonym of the extinct silverfish Lepidotrix, however it was later shown that the original spelling of the silverfish genus was not same, so therefore the genera were not homonymous.
The genus contains nine species:
Image
Scientific name
Common name
Distribution
Lepidothrix velutina
Velvety manakin
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama
Lepidothrix coronata
Blue-capped manakin
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
Lepidothrix suavissima
Orange-bellied manakin
southern Venezuela, far northern Brazil, and central Guyana
Lepidothrix serena
White-fronted manakin
Surname and French Guiana
Lepidothrix iris
Opal-crowned manakin
Brazil
Lepidothrix vilasboasi
Golden-crowned manakin
Brazil
Lepidothrix nattereri
Snow-capped manakin
Amazon Basin of Brazil and far north-eastern Bolivia
Lepidothrix isidorei
Blue-rumped manakin
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Lepidothrix coeruleocapilla
Cerulean-capped manakin
Peru