Bycanistes

Bycanistes
Black-and-white-casqued hornbill (Bycanistes subcylindricus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Bucerotiformes
Family:	Bucerotidae
Genus:	Bycanistes Cabanis & Heine, 1860
Type species
Buceros bucinator[1] Temminck, 1824
Species
5-6, see text.

Bycanistes is a genus of medium to large, primarily frugivorous hornbills (family Bucerotidae) found in the forests and woodlands of Sub-Saharan Africa. They have often been included in the genus Ceratogymna, but today most authorities consider them separate. All species in this genus have black and white plumage. The plumage of the sexes is similar, but the casque of the male is larger than that of the female.

Recent genetic data shows that Bycanistes is the sister taxon to ground hornbills, this clade having diverged from the rest of the hornbill lineage early on.^[2] Bycanistes is thought to represent an early African lineage, while the remaining Bucerotiformes evolved in Asia.

Species

The genus contains the following six species:^[3]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Bycanistes fistulator	Piping hornbill	Senegal east to Uganda and south to Angola
	Bycanistes bucinator	Trumpeter hornbill	Burundi, Mozambique, Botswana, Congo, Kenya, the Caprivi strip of Namibia and eastern South Africa
	Bycanistes cylindricus	Brown-cheeked hornbill	Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo
	Bycanistes albotibialis	White-thighed hornbill	Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda
	Bycanistes subcylindricus	Black-and-white-casqued hornbill	western Kenya to Côte d'Ivoire with an isolated population in north Angola
	Bycanistes brevis	Silvery-cheeked hornbill	forests of East Africa from Ethiopia to South Africa

References

1. "Bucerotidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
2. Woodruff, D. S. & Srikwan, S. 2011. Molecular genetics and the conservation of hornbills in fragmented landscapes. In Poonswad, P. (ed) The Asian Hornbills: Ecology and Conservation. National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Bangkok, pp. 257-264.
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, trogons, hoopoes, hornbills". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 January 2024.

• Kemp, A. C. (2001). "Family Bucerotidae (Hornbills)". pp. 436–523 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (2001). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Mousebirds to Hornbills. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-30-X