{{short description|Genus of birds}} {{other uses}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Chloris chloris (profile).jpg | image_caption = male European greenfinch (''Chloris chloris'') | taxon = Chloris | authority = Cuvier, 1800 | type_species = ''Loxia chloris''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=196 |title= Fringillidae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-16}}</ref> | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms = ''Chloris'' <small>Cuvier, 1800 (but see text)</small><br/> ''Chloris'' <small>C.L.Brehm, 1856 (''non'' Cuvier, 1800: preoccupied)</small><br/> ''Chloris'' <small>A.E.Brehm, 1857 (''non'' Cuvier, 1800: preoccupied)</small> }}
The '''greenfinches''' are small passerine birds in the genus '''''Chloris''''' in the subfamily Carduelinae within the Fringillidae. The species have a Eurasian distribution except for the European greenfinch, which also occurs in North Africa.
These finches all have large conical bills and yellow patches on the wing feathers.
The greenfinches were formerly placed in the genus ''Carduelis''. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that the greenfinches form a monophyletic group that is not closely related to the species in ''Carduelis'' and instead is sister to a clade containing the desert finch (''Rhodospiza obsoleta'') and the Socotra golden-winged grosbeak (''Rhynchostruthus socotranus'').<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Zuccon | first1=Dario | last2=Prŷs-Jones | first2=Robert | last3=Rasmussen | first3=Pamela C. | last4=Ericson | first4=Per G.P. | year=2012 | title=The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=62 | issue=2 | pages=581–596 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002 | url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.9ff3752132fdaeccb6800010935/Zuccon%20et%20al%202012.pdf | pmid=22023825 | bibcode=2012MolPE..62..581Z | access-date=2017-10-23 | archive-date=2018-09-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926130508/http://www.nrm.se/download/18.9ff3752132fdaeccb6800010935/Zuccon%20et%20al%202012.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> The greenfinches were therefore moved to the resurrected genus ''Chloris'' which had originally been introduced by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800 with the European greenfinch as the type species.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Cuvier | first=Georges | author-link=Georges Cuvier | year=1800 | title=Leçons d'anatomie comparée | place=Paris | publisher=Baudouin | volume=1 | at=Table 2 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33516226 }} The year on the title page is ''An VIII''.<!--also available from Gallica: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1513143p/f583.image --></ref><ref name=ioc/> The name is from Ancient Greek ''khloris'', the European greenfinch, from ''khloros'', "green".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl_997 | url-access=limited | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/helmdictionarysc00jobl_997/page/n102 102] }}</ref>
==Extant species== The genus contains six species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | title=Finches, euphonias | work= World Bird List Version 5.2| url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/finches/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union| accessdate=5 June 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Species Updates – IOC World Bird List|url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/updates/species-updates/|access-date=2021-01-12|language=en-US}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution |- |120px || ''Chloris ambigua'' || Black-headed greenfinch || Yunnan, northern Laos, eastern Myanmar and adjacent areas of Vietnam, Thailand and northeastern India |- |120px || ''Chloris chloris'' || European greenfinch || Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia |- |120px || ''Chloris sinica'' || Oriental greenfinch || East Asia |- | || ''Chloris kittlitzi'' || Bonin greenfinch<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Saitoh|first1=Takema|last2=Kawakami|first2=Kazuto|last3=Red'kin|first3=Yaroslav A.|last4=Nishiumi|first4=Isao|last5=Kim|first5=Chang-Hoe|last6=Kryukov|first6=Alexey P.|date=2020-05-27|title=Cryptic Speciation of the Oriental Greenfinch Chloris sinica on Oceanic Islands|journal=Zoological Science|volume=37|issue=3|pages=280–294|doi=10.2108/zs190111|pmid=32549542|issn=0289-0003|doi-access=free}}</ref> || The Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands |- |120px || ''Chloris monguilloti'' || Vietnamese greenfinch || southern Vietnam |- |120px || ''Chloris spinoides'' || Yellow-breasted greenfinch || Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent |- |}
==Fossil species== [[File:Carduelis aurelioi.jpg|upright|thumb|Restoration of the extinct ''Chloris aurelioi'', described September 23, 2010]] * Trias greenfinch (''Chloris triasi'') - Holocene of La Palma, the Canary Islands, Spain * Slender-billed greenfinch (''Chloris aurelioi'') - Holocene of Tenerife, the Canary Islands, Spain
==References== {{Commons category|Chloris (Fringillidae)}} {{Reflist}}
{{Passeroidea|N.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q9189957}}
Category:Chloris (bird) Category:Taxa named by Georges Cuvier