Greater Scythebill

SCI Name:  Drymotoxeres pucheranii
Protonym:  Xyphorhynchus Pucherani Iconogr.Orn. livr.12 pl.69[=68],text
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Furnariidae / Drymotoxeres
Taxonomy Code:  grescy1
Type Locality:  Santa Fe de Bogota.
Author:  Lafresnaye
Publish Year:  1849
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

DRYMOTOXERES
(Furnariidae; Ϯ Greater Scythebill D. pucherani) Gr. δρυμος drumos  woodland; τοξηρης toxērēs  furnished with the bow  < τοξον toxon  bow; "Cette espèce, par son bec long et arqué, dit le savant Ornithologiste, est analogue à celle connue sous le nom de Picucule bec en faucille, Dendrocolaptes procurvus, Temminck, et dont Swainson a fait son Sous-Genre Xyphorhynchus ... Quoique d'une dimension beaucoup plus forte que le Procurvus de Temminck cette Espèce a le bec moins long; il dépasse à peine celui de notre Dendrocolaptes procurvoïdes de Cayenne; mais il est moins grêle que ce dernier, et notablement plus large et plus haut à sa base, et d'un blanc jaunâtre" (de La Fresnaye 1849); "To maintain a phylogenetic classification, it is necessary to remove C. pucherani from Campylorhamphus.  Given that transferring C. pucherani to Drymornis would create an exceptionally heterogeneous genus and that there are no generic names available for C. pucherani, we here describe a new genus.   Drymotoxeres gen. nov.  Figures 1B and 2B    Type species.—Xiphorhynchus pucherani Des Murs 1849.  Monotypic.  ...  Etymology.—The name is masculine, from the Greek drymos (woods) and toxeres (furnished with a bow) treated as a noun, referring, respectively, to the habitat and the thin bow-shaped bill of D. pucherani.   ...   The most distinctive features of Drymotoxeres are its elongated toes and claws.  ...  The elongated toes and claws of Drymotoxeres may be related to greater use of the thin trunks and branches that are typical of many high-elevation trees.  Alternatively, the elongated toes and claws may represent specializations for climbing the moss-covered trees of the cloud forest.  The elongated claws can penetrate the thick layer of moss, allowing the bird either to cling to the mass of soft material or to reach a firmer substrate underneath." (Claramunt et al. 2010); "Drymotoxeres Claramunt, Derryberry, Chesser, Aleixo and Brumfield, 2010, Auk, 127 (2), p. 434.  Type, by original designation and monotypy, Xiphorhynchus pucherani des Murs, 1849." (JAJ 2020).

pucheranii
Jacques Pucheran (1817-1894) French zoologist, explorer (Drymotoxeres, Neomorphus, syn. Podica senegalensis) (see pucherani).