Spilopelia is a
genus of
doves that are closely related to Streptopelia, yet distinguished from them by differences in morphology and behavior. Some authors have argued that Stigmatopelia is the valid name as it appears in an earlier line although also erected by the Swedish zoologist
Carl Sundevall,[1][a][3] but
Richard Schodde and
Ian J. Mason in their zoological catalogue of Australian birds chose Spilopelia citing clause 24(b) of the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) which supports the decision of the first reviser.[4][5] The name Spilopelia combines the
Ancient Greekspilos meaning "spot" and peleia meaning "dove".[6]
A phylogenetic position based on Johnson et al. (2001). A second possibility is that Columba is a sister of Streptopelia but the remaining clades appear to be monophyletic.[7]
Some ornithologists split the spotted dove into the eastern spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) and the western spotted dove (Spilopelia suratensis).[9][10]
Notes
^The title page of Sundevall's book gives the year as 1872. The book was issued in two parts and the second part from page 74 that includes Spilopelia was published in 1873.[2]
^Gill, Frank; Donsker, David;
Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020).
"Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 March 2020.