Systematics

Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas 1811. Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica 2:207.—In maximis lacubus deserti Kirgisici, Araliensi, praesertim et Tscholkanensi copiosi esse (42 Pallas, P. S. (1811). Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica. Volume 2. Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. Close ). Type material not located.

Synonyms:
Phoenicopterus antiquorum Temminck 1820. Manuel d'ornithologie 2:587.—Europe et Afrique (43 Temminck, C. J. (1820). Manuel d’Ornithologie, ou Tableau Systématique des Oiseaux qui se Trouvent en Europe; précédé d’une Analyse du Système Général d’Ornithologie, et suivi d’une Table Alphabétique des Espèces. 2nd edition. H. Cousin, Paris. In French. Close ). Type material not located. This taxon was considered a nomen nudum by Grant and Mackworth-Praed (44 Grant, C. B. H., and C. W. Mackworth-Praed (1933). On the Correct Name and Exact Type-locality for the Greater Flamingo of Europe and Africa. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 54:16–18. Close ).

Phoenicopterus platyrhynchos L. Brehm 1855. Naumannia 5:290.—Südeuropa und Nordafrika (45 Brehm, L. (1855). Verzeichniss der europäischen Vögel nach den Species und Subspecies. Naumannia 5:266–271, 273–300. Close ). Type material in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Lectotype, AMNH 459035, adult male from Montpellier, France, collected on April 10, 1829. Paralectotypes from Montpellier, AMNH 459036, male collected on November 10, 1829, and AMNH 459038, female collected on December 10, 1822 (46 Greenway, J. C. (1973). Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part I: Tinamidae–Rallidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 150(3):209–345. Close ).

Greater Flamingo was described as Phoenicopterus roseus. Other names for the species include Phoenicopterus antiquorum and Phoenicopterus platyrhynchos, which are now considered junior synonyms. It was later considered a subspecies of American Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus 1758 (47 Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna tria Naturae, secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Volume 1. 10th edition. Laurentius Salvius, Holmia [Stockholm], Sweden. Close ); this treatment was reversed and Phoenicopterus roseus was again recognized as a distinct species based on differences in its coloration, displays, and vocalizations (48 Sangster, G. (1997). Species limits in flamingos, with comments on lack of concensus in taxonomy. Dutch Birding 19:193-198 Close , 49 Sangster, G., C. J. Hazevoet, A. B. Van den Berg, C. S. Roselaar, and R. Sluys (1999). Dutch avifaunal list: species concepts, taxonomic instability, and taxonomic changes in 1977-1998. Ardea 87(1):139-166. Close , 50 Knox, A. G., M. Collinson, A. J. Helbig, D. T. Parkin, and G. Sangster (2002). Taxonomic recommendations for British birds. Ibis 144(4):707–710. Close , 51 Banks, R. C., R. T. Chesser, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, I. J. Lovette, P. C. Rasmussen, Jr. Remsen, J. V., J. D. Rising, D. F. Stotz and K. Winker. (2008a). Forty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 125 (3):758-768. Close ).

Currently included in the genus Phoenicopterus Linnaeus 1758 (47 Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna tria Naturae, secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Volume 1. 10th edition. Laurentius Salvius, Holmia [Stockholm], Sweden. Close ).

A phylogeographic study of Greater Flamingo using both mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers from across eight Mediterranean breeding colonies (from Spain to Algeria and Türkiye) did not find population differentiation, suggesting extensive gene flow between the different colonies. The study also indicated that Greater Flamingo in the Mediterranean basin suffered a reduction in the effective population size followed by expansion, which was estimated to have started ca. 693,000 years ago (90% confidence interval: 526,316–1,131,579 years ago; 52 Geraci, J., Béchet, A., Cézilly, F., Ficheux, S., Baccetti, N., Samraoui, B. and Wattier, R. (2012). Greater flamingo colonies around the Mediterranean form a single interbreeding population and share a common history. Journal of Avian Biology 43:341–354. Close ). In another study of the four major colonies in Mediterranean (Spain, Algeria, France, Türkiye, n = 116 individuals), there was also no evidence of population structure based on variation in the major histocompatibility complex Class IIB, despite extremely high levels of allelic diversity (53 Gillingham, M. A. F., A. Béchet, A. Courtiol, M. Rendón-Martos, J. A. Amat, B. Samraoui, O. Omnuş, S. Sommer, and F. Cézilly (2017). Very high MHC Class IIB diversity without spatial differentiation in the Mediterranean population of Greater Flamingos. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17:56. Close ). However, samples from other parts of the distribution area were not examined.

There are no biometric or coloration studies and their possible variation among populations of Greater Flamingo.

Monotypic, no subspecies have been described.

Morphological (54 Jenkin, P. M. (1957). The filter-feeding and food of flamingos (Phoenicopteri). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 240B:401–493. Close ) and genetic (55 Sibley, C. G., and J. E. Ahlquist (1990). Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: a Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, USA. Close , 56 Torres, C. R., L. M. Ogawa, M. A. F. Gillingham, B. Ferrari, and M. van Tuinen (2014). A multi-locus inference of the evolutionary diversification of extant flamingos (Phoenicopteridae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 14(36):1–9. Close , 57 Torres, C. R., and M. Van Tuinen (2017). The evolution of flamingos. In Flamingos: Behavior, Biology, and Relationships with Humans (M. J. Anderson, Editor), Nova Publishers, New York. pp. 29–53. Close , 58 Frias-Soler, R. C., A. Bauer, M. A. Grohme, G. Espinosa López, M. Gutiérrez Costa, A. Llanes-Quevedo, F. Van Slobbe, M. Frohme, and M. Wink (2022). Phylogeny of the order Phoenicopteriformes and population genetics of the Caribbean flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber: Aves). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society zlac040 Close ) studies have revealed the existence of two clades within extant flamingos. One group includes American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), and Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis), which have a compact bill adapted to filter larger food items than the other species. The other group, characterized by having a bulbous bill to filter smaller food items, is formed by Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), Andean Flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus), and James's Flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi). Within the first group, Greater Flamingo appears to be sister to American Flamingo, with these two species in turn sister to Chilean Flamingo (56 Torres, C. R., L. M. Ogawa, M. A. F. Gillingham, B. Ferrari, and M. van Tuinen (2014). A multi-locus inference of the evolutionary diversification of extant flamingos (Phoenicopteridae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 14(36):1–9. Close ).

Based on a combined dataset that included both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, the extant species of Phoenicopterus possibly diverged about 2.29 million years ago (95% confidence interval: 1.07–4.06 million years ago). The divergence between American Flamingo and Greater Flamingo possibly occurred about 1.01 million years ago (95% confidence interval: 0.34–1.98 million years ago) (56 Torres, C. R., L. M. Ogawa, M. A. F. Gillingham, B. Ferrari, and M. van Tuinen (2014). A multi-locus inference of the evolutionary diversification of extant flamingos (Phoenicopteridae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 14(36):1–9. Close ). Another study using a partial sequence of flamingos cytochrome b (611 bp) suggested that the divergence between American Flamingo and the Greater Flamingo occurred at a mean of 4.4 million years ago (95% height posterior density: 2.4–6.6 million years ago), while the genus Phoenicopterus diverged from its common ancestor 12.95 million years ago (95% height posterior density: 9–18 million years ago) (58 Frias-Soler, R. C., A. Bauer, M. A. Grohme, G. Espinosa López, M. Gutiérrez Costa, A. Llanes-Quevedo, F. Van Slobbe, M. Frohme, and M. Wink (2022). Phylogeny of the order Phoenicopteriformes and population genetics of the Caribbean flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber: Aves). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society zlac040 Close ).

Hybrids between American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) x Greater Flamingo, Chilean Flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) x Greater Flamingo, and Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) x Greater Flamingo have been observed in captivity (59 McCarthy, E. M. (2006). Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). In the Mediterranean region, Lesser Flamingo x Greater Flamingo hybrids have been observed in the wild (59 McCarthy, E. M. (2006). Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

• Chilean x Greater Flamingo (hybrid) Phoenicopterus chilensis x roseus

The genus name Phoenicopterus is derived from Greek, phoinix meaning crimson, and pteros meaning wing; the species name roseus is derived from Latin, meaning rosy (60 Jobling, J. A. (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. A. & C. Black, London, UK. Close ).

Greater Flamingo fossils have been found at the Kom Ombo Gabal Silsila 3 site (Aswan, Egypt) from the Pleistocene–Cenozoic (61 Churcher, C. S., and P. E. L. Smith. (1972). Kom Ombo: Preliminary Report on the Fauna of Late Paleolithic Sites in Upper Egypt. Science 177:259–261. Close , 62 Churcher, C. S. (1974). Relationships of the Late Pleistocene Vertebrate Fauna from Kom Ombo, Upper Egypt. Annals of the Geological Survey of Egypt 4:363–384. Close ), Florisbad (South Africa) from the Middle Pleistocene/Late Pleistocene–Cenozoic (63 Manegold, A., and J. S. Brink (2011). Descriptions and palaeoecological implications of bird remains from the Middle Pleistocene of Florisbad, South Africa. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 85:19–32. Close ), and Gruta da Furninha (Portugal) from the Late Pleistocene–Cenozoic (64 Figueiredo, S. D., P. P. Cunha, F. Sousa, T. Pereira, and A. Rosa (2017). Pleistocene birds of Gruta da Furninha (Peniche-Portugal): a paleontological and paleoenvironmental aproach. Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering A 6:502–509. Close ). Fossil eggs thought to be from Greater Flamingo were found in Tudela (Spain) from the Early Miocene (65 Grellet-Tinner, G., X. Murelaga, J. C. Larrasoaña, L. F. Silveira, M. Olivares, L. A. Ortega, P. W. Trimby, and A. Pascual (2012). The first occurrence in the fossil record of an aquatic avian twig-nest with Phoenicopteriformes eggs: Evolutionary implications. PLoS One 7:e46972. Close ).

Fossils attributed to Greater Flamingo have also been found in Marais de l’Ermitage (Reunion Island) from the Holocene (66 Mourer-Chauviré, C., R. Bour, S. Ribes, and F. Moutou (1999). The avifauna of Réunion Island (Mascarene Islands) at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 89:1–38. Close ), Sal Island (Cape Verde Islands) from the Holocene (67 Boessneck, J., and R. Kinzelbach (1993). Ein prähistorischer Brutzplatz von Seevögeln auf der Insel Sal (Kapverden). Journal für Ornithologie 134(3):245–271. Close ), Mare aux Songes swamp (Mauritius Island) from the Holocene (68 Owen, R. (1866). Evidence of a species, perhaps extinct, of a large parrot (Psittacus mauritianus, Owen), contemporary with the Dodo in the island of Mauritius. Ibis 2(2):168–171. Close , 69 Rijsdijk, K. F., J. P. Hume, F. Bunnik, F. B. V. Florens, C. Baider, B. Shapiro, J. Van der Plicht, A. Janoo, O. Griffiths, L. W. Van den Hoek Ostende, H. Cremer, T. Vernimmen, P. G. B. De Louw, A. Bholah, S. Saumtally, N. Porch, J. Haile, M. Buckley, M. Collins, and E. Gittenberger (2009). Mid-Holocene vertebrate bone Concentration-Lagerstätte on oceanic island Mauritius provides a window into the ecosystem of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus). Quaternary Science Reviews 28(1-2):14–24. Close ), in Madagascar southwest of Ampoza, also from the Holocene (70 Goodman, S. M. (2000). A description of a new species of Brachypteracias (Family Brachypteraciidae) from the Holocene of Madagascar. Ostrich 71(1/2):318-322. Close ), and Kolhorn (Netherlands), from the Neolithic period (71 Zeiler, J. T., and A. T. Clason (1993). Fowling in the Dutch Neolithic at inland and coastal sites. Archaeofauna 2:67–74. Close ).