What is "carduelis"

Carduelis \Carduelis\ n. the type genus of a subfamily Carduelinae of the Fringillidae, used in some classifications. It includes the goldfinches (such as the American goldfinch, Cardulis tristis, and the European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis); siskins; redpolls; and linnets, as well as the common northern cardinal ( Carduelis cardinalis, also called the cardinal bird).

Syn: genus Carduelis.

The genus Carduelis is a group of birds in the finch family Fringillidae.

A large number of bird species were at one time assigned to the genus but it became clear from phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that the genus was polyphyletic. The polyphyletic nature of the genus was confirmed by Dario Zuccon and coworkers in a comprehensive study of the finch family published in 2012. The authors suggested splitting the genus into several monophyletic clades, a proposal that was accepted by the International Ornithologists' Union. The siskins and goldfinches from the Americas formed a distinct clade and were moved to the resurrected genus Spinus, the greenfinches were moved to the genus Chloris, the twite and linnets formed another clade and were moved to the genus Linaria and finally the redpolls were moved to the genus Acanthis.

The genus Carduelis is now restricted to three European species:

• European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis
• Citril finch, Carduelis citrinella
• Corsican finch, Carduelis corsicana