Ploceus is a genus of birds in the weaver family, Ploceidae. They are native to the Indomalayan and Afrotropical realms.
Taxonomy and systematics Phylogeny The genus Ploceus was introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1816. The type species was subsequently designated as the baya weaver. The genus name is a Latinisation of Ancient Greek πλοκεύς (plokeús) meaning "one who braids hair", which in turn is derived from the Greek verb πλέκω (plékō) "plait, braid; entwine, intertwine".
Based on recent DNA-analysis, the genus Ploceus is almost certainly polyphyletic. If all species currently included in the genus would remain and the genus would be made monophyletic, it would have to encompass the entire subfamily Ploceinae. The Ploceinae can be divided into two groups. In the first group, the widowbirds and bishops (genus Euplectes) are sister to a clade in which the genera Foudia and Quelea are closest relatives and which further includes the Asiatic species of Ploceus, i.e. P. manyar, P. philippinus, P. benghalensis, P. megarhynchus, (and P. hypoxanthus, although untested). Since Georges Cuvier picked P. philippinus as the type species, these five species would logically remain assigned to the genus Ploceus.
Basic to the second group is a clade consisting of both species so far included in Ploceus that live on Madagascar, P. nelicourvi and P. sakalava, and these are morphologically very distinct from the remaining species. These two species could in future be assigned to the genus Nelicurvius that was erected by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850, but which was merged with Ploceus later on. This second group further contains the genera Malimbus and Anaplectes, and all remaining Ploceus species. As Malimbus is the earlier name, erected by Vieillot et al. in 1805, the remaining species of Ploceus, as well as Anaplectes rubiceps, could in future be assigned to Malimbus. These changes are largely corroborated by morphological revisions. Provided that the other genera that have not been proposed to be merged into an extended "Malimbus" are monophyletic, the following (incomplete) tree expresses current insights.
Species list
The genus contains 66 species. Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Baglafecht weaver Ploceus baglafecht highlands of equatorial Africa Bannerman's weaver Ploceus bannermani Western High Plateau Bates's weaver Ploceus batesi Cameroon. Black-chinned weaver Ploceus nigrimentus Bailundu Highlands of western Angola, on the Batéké Plateau in Republic of the Congo, and in eastern Gabon. Bertram's weaver Ploceus bertrandi Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Slender-billed weaver Ploceus pelzelni equatorial Africa Loango weaver Ploceus subpersonatus maritime Central Africa Little weaver Ploceus luteolus western Sudan (region) and East Africa Spectacled weaver Ploceus ocularis Sub-Saharan Africa (except west, south, Horn of Africa and Madagascar) Black-necked weaver Ploceus nigricollis equatorial Africa Olive-naped weaver Ploceus brachypterus West Africa Strange weaver Ploceus alienus Albertine Rift montane forests. Black-billed weaver Ploceus melanogaster central Africa. Cape weaver Ploceus capensis southern Africa. Bocage's weaver Ploceus temporalis Angola, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northwestern Zambia. Eastern golden weaver Ploceus subaureus highlands of eastern and south-eastern Africa. Holub's golden weaver Ploceus xanthops miombo and adjacent areas Orange weaver Ploceus aurantius African tropical rainforest. Heuglin's masked weaver Ploceus heuglini Senegal, Gambia and Mali to Ivory Coast and east to Uganda and western Kenya. Golden palm weaver Ploceus bojeri eastern Africa. Taveta weaver Ploceus castaneiceps African Savannah in Kenya and Tanzania. Príncipe weaver Ploceus princeps São Tomé and Príncipe Northern brown-throated weaver Ploceus castanops Uganda, Rwanda and adjacent northern Burundi, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Kenya and northwestern Tanzania. Southern brown-throated weaver Ploceus xanthopterus southern Africa. Ruvu weaver Ploceus holoxanthus Tanzania Kilombero weaver Ploceus burnieri Tanzania Rüppell's weaver Ploceus galbula eastern Africa and southwestern Arabian Peninsula Northern masked weaver Ploceus taeniopterus Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. Lesser masked weaver Ploceus intermedius eastern, south-eastern and southern Africa. Southern masked weaver Ploceus velatus southern Africa. Katanga masked weaver Ploceus katangae south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Zambia. Lufira masked weaver Ploceus ruweti Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tanzanian masked weaver Ploceus reichardi south-western Tanzania and north-eastern Zambia. Vitelline masked weaver Ploceus vitellinus western, central and eastern Africa. Speke's weaver Ploceus spekei northern and eastern Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and north-eastern Tanzania Fox's weaver Ploceus spekeoides Uganda. Village weaver Ploceus cucullatus Sub-Saharan Africa; introduced to Hispaniola, Dominica, Mauritius and Réunion. Giant weaver Ploceus grandis São Tomé Island. Chestnut-and-black weaver Ploceus castaneofuscus West Africa Vieillot's black weaver Ploceus nigerrimus Central Africa Weyns's weaver Ploceus weynsi eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and north-western Tanzania. Kilifi weaver Ploceus golandi Kenya. Juba weaver Ploceus dichrocephalus Horn of Africa. Black-headed weaver Ploceus melanocephalus West, Central, and East Africa Golden-backed weaver Ploceus jacksoni Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Cinnamon weaver Ploceus badius Sudan and South Sudan Chestnut weaver Ploceus rubiginosus eastern and south-western Africa. Golden-naped weaver Ploceus aureonucha northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yellow-mantled weaver Ploceus tricolor African tropical rainforest. Maxwell's black weaver Ploceus albinucha African tropical rainforest. Nelicourvi weaver Ploceus nelicourvi Madagascar Sakalava weaver Ploceus sakalava Madagascar. Asian golden weaver Ploceus hypoxanthus Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Black-breasted weaver Ploceus benghalensis South Asia Streaked weaver Ploceus manyar Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam Baya weaver Ploceus philippinus Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Finn's weaver Ploceus megarhynchus India and Nepal Dark-backed weaver Ploceus bicolor Sub-Saharan Africa (except west, south, Horn of Africa and Madagascar) Preuss's weaver Ploceus preussi Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Yellow-capped weaver Ploceus dorsomaculatus Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. Olive-headed weaver Ploceus olivaceiceps Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Usambara weaver Ploceus nicolli Tanzania. Brown-capped weaver Ploceus insignis Western High Plateau, Albertine Rift montane forests, Imatong Mountains and Kenya Bar-winged weaver Ploceus angolensis Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. São Tomé weaver Ploceus sanctithomae São Tomé and Príncipe. Yellow-legged weaver Ploceus flavipes Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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