Melithreptus [SEP] parent taxon
Melithreptus
Melithreptus is a genus of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. Its members are native to Australia. It is generally considered to contain seven species, although some authors have classified the related blue-faced honeyeater within this genus.
The genus was originally defined by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1817. William John Swainson had coined the term "Eidopsarus" in 1837. He named the black-headed honeyeater "Eidopsarus affinis" in 1839, which Gould, likely unaware, described as "Melithreptus melanocephalus"
"Melithreptus". Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin words "flavus" "yellow", and "collis" "neck". Other vernacular names are the green cherry-picker, green dick or green linnet.
The yellow-throated honeyeater was previously placed in the genus "Lichenostomus" but was moved to "Nesoptilotis" after a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2011 showed that the original genus was polyphyletic. It is a sister taxon to the white-eared honeyeater ("N. leucotis"),