Yucatan Woodpecker

SCI Name:  Melanerpes pygmaeus
Protonym:  Centurus rubriventris pygmaeus Proc.U.S.Natl.Mus. 8 p.576
Taxonomy:  Piciformes / Picidae / Melanerpes
Taxonomy Code:  yucwoo
Type Locality:  Cozumel Island.
Author:  Ridgway
Publish Year:  1885
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

MELANERPES
(Picidae; Ϯ Red-headed Woodpecker M. erythrocephalus) Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; ἑρπης herpēs  creeper  < ἑρπω herpō  to crawl; "1. MELANERPES ERYTHROCEPHALUS. (Sw.)  Red-headed Woodpecker.   GENUS, Melanerpes*, SWAINS.   Sub-genus, (Typical form) SWAINS.   ...   This Woodpecker, so well known in the United States for the havoc it commits in the orchards, ranges in summer from the northern shores of Lake Huron to the Gulf of Mexico.   ...   *Th. μελας, niger, et ερπο, repo" (Swainson 1832); "Melanerpes Swainson, Fauna Bor.-Am., 2, 1831 (1832), p. 316. Type, by monotypy, Picus erythrocephalus Linné." (Peters 1948, VI, 157).
Var. Melanoherpes, Malanerpes.
Synon. Asyndesmus, Balanosphyra, Cactocraugus, Centurus, Chryserpes, Colombpicus, Leuconerpes, Leucopicus, Linneopicus, Melampicos, Meropicus, Phymatoblepharus, Trichopicus, Trichopipo, Tripsurus, Zebrapicus.

pygmaea / pygmaeum / pygmaeus / pygmea / pygmeum / pygmeus
L. pygmaeus  pygmy  < Gr. πυγμαιος pugmaios  pygmy, of the size of a fist  < πυγμη pugmē   fist.
● ex “Flat-billed Auk” of Latham 1785, and “Pigmy Auk” of Pennant 1785 (Aethia).
● ex “Pygmy Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Charmosyna palmarum).
● “73. PLATALEA.  ...  pygmea.  3. P. corpore supra fusco, subtus albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p. . .  Habitat Surinami.  Magnitudo Passeris.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Calidris).
● ex "Pygmy Curlew" of Pennant 1773, and Latham 1785 (syn. Calidris ferruginea).
● ex “Petit Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 831, fig. 2, “Gobe-moucheron” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Dwarf Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myrmotherula brachyura).

SUBSPECIES

Yucatan Woodpecker (rubricomus)
SCI Name: Melanerpes pygmaeus rubricomus
rubricomus
L. ruber  red; coma  hair  < Gr. κομη komē  hair.

Yucatan Woodpecker (pygmaeus)
SCI Name: Melanerpes pygmaeus pygmaeus
pygmaea / pygmaeum / pygmaeus / pygmea / pygmeum / pygmeus
L. pygmaeus  pygmy  < Gr. πυγμαιος pugmaios  pygmy, of the size of a fist  < πυγμη pugmē   fist.
● ex “Flat-billed Auk” of Latham 1785, and “Pigmy Auk” of Pennant 1785 (Aethia).
● ex “Pygmy Parrakeet” of Latham 1781 (syn. Charmosyna palmarum).
● “73. PLATALEA.  ...  pygmea.  3. P. corpore supra fusco, subtus albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p. . .  Habitat Surinami.  Magnitudo Passeris.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Calidris).
● ex "Pygmy Curlew" of Pennant 1773, and Latham 1785 (syn. Calidris ferruginea).
● ex “Petit Gobe-mouche tacheté de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 831, fig. 2, “Gobe-moucheron” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Dwarf Fly-catcher” of Latham 1783 (syn. Myrmotherula brachyura).

Yucatan Woodpecker (tysoni)
SCI Name: Melanerpes pygmaeus tysoni
tysoni
Carroll Sargent Tyson, Jr. (1877-1956) US artist, collector (Laurent Raty in litt.) (subsp. Melanerpes pygmaeus).