Tooth-billed Hummingbird

SCI Name:  Androdon aequatorialis
Protonym:  Androdon aequatorialis Ann.Mag.Nat.Hist.(3), 12 p.247
Taxonomy:  Caprimulgiformes / Trochilidae / Androdon
Taxonomy Code:  tobhum1
Type Locality:  Ecuador.
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1863
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ANDRODON
(Trochilidae; † Tooth-billed Hummingbird A. aequatorialis) Gr. ανηρ anēr, ανδρος andros man; οδους odous, οδων odōn  tooth; “I send for insertion in your next Number a description of a new and very singular Humming-Bird which I have lately received from Ecuador.  Not only does it differ specifically from every other with which I am acquainted, but it also differs in its structure from every form comprised in the great family of Trochilidæ.  I therefore propose to call it  Androdon æquatorialis.  This new bird is so very singular that it is not easy to say which section of the family it is most nearly related; but in some of its characters it assimilates with Gryphus, Eutoxeres, and Doryfera.  In size it is about equal to Lampornis Mango; the edges of its mandibles are thickly set with fine teeth, like those of Gryphus, but are more strongly developed; the bill is very long for the size of the bird, and has rather an upward curvature; the wings are moderate in proportion to the body, and the tail is square or slightly rounded.  The bird must be ranked among the dull-coloured species of its extensive family; at the same time it exhibits some approach to a metallic lustre in the blue or bronzy-red colouring of the hinder part of the crown.   ...   the one with a blue crown having the toothing very strongly developed, and the bill terminating in spiny hooks which cross each other when that organ is closed.” (Gould 1863); "Androdon Gould, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (3), 12, 1863, p. 247.  Type, by monotypy, Androdon aequatorialis Gould." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 4).  Perhaps in keeping with other recent suggestions, the substantive name of this hummingbird should be changed to Ecuadorean Toothbill.

aequatoriale / aequatorialis
Late L. aequatorialis  equatorial  < aequator  equator  < L. aequare  to make equal  < aequus  equal. Frequently given to species with a distribution in the equatorial latitudes of Africa (e.g. subsp. Jynx ruficollis, Sheppardia), but more commonly applied to birds from Ecuador (Spanish ecuador  equator) (e.g. Momotus, Thamnistes, Xiphorhynchus).
● Erroneous TL. Guayaquil (= Panama City) (subsp. Dendroica petechia).
● Erroneous TL. Guayaquil (= interior of Ecuador) (subsp. Falco sparverius).
● Erroneous TL. Ecuador (= Bahia, Brazil) (syn. Heliothryx aurita auriculata).
● Erroneous TL. Bogotá (= San Lucas, Ecuador) (subsp. Rallus limicola).