Linaria (bird)


Linaria is a genus of small passerine birds in the finch family that contains the twite and the linnets. The genus name linaria is the Latin for a linen-weaver, from linum, "flax".
The species were formerly included in the genus Carduelis. A molecular phylogenetic study using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences published in 2012 found that the genus was polyphyletic. It was therefore split into monophyletic genera and the twite and the linnets moved to the resurrected genus Linaria. The name had originally been introduced in 1802 by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein.

Species

The genus contains four species:
ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Linaria flavirostrisTwitenorthern Europe and across central Asia
Linaria cannabinaCommon linnetEurope, western Asia and north Africa
Linaria yemenensisYemen linnetSaudi Arabia and Yemen
Linaria johannisWarsangli linnetSomalia