Fox's Weaver
Ploceus spekeoides Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1947
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Fox's weaver (Ploceus spekeoides) is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is endemic to Uganda.
Its natural habitats are moist savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.
A specimen was collected in 1913 from Teso in Eastern Uganda. It was gifted to the British Museum of Natural History in 1923 and identified as a distinct species closely related to Ploceus spekei by C.H.B. Grant and Mackworth-Praed in 1947. The specimen collector was recorded as being T.V. Fox however some have suggested that it referred to Harold Munro Fox. There was however a Thomas Vernon Fox (20 November 1878 - 13 March 1910) in the Ugandan administrative services between 1908-1918 who collected specimens of birds from the region.
Wikipedia contributors, Fox's weaver; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:21:02.599741+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ploceus spekeoides Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1947
- Name authority
- Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1947
- Common name
- Fox's Weaver
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Ploceidae
- Genus
- Ploceus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPloceidae Sundevall, 1836
- genusPloceus Cuvier, 1816
- speciesPloceus spekeoides Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1947
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ploceus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Maxwell's Black WeaverPloceus albinucha (Bocage, 1876) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Strange WeaverPloceus alienus (Sharpe, 1902) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bar-winged WeaverPloceus angolensis (Bocage, 1878) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bates's WeaverPloceus batesi (Sharpe, 1908) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dark-backed WeaverPloceus bicolor Vieillot, 1819 | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cape WeaverPloceus capensis (Linnaeus, 1766) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Taveta WeaverPloceus castaneiceps (Sharpe, 1890) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ploceus flavipes (Chapin, 1916) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Giant WeaverPloceus grandis (G. R. Gray, 1844) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Asian Golden WeaverPloceus hypoxanthus (Sparrman, 1788) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Masked WeaverPloceus intermedius Rüppell, 1845 | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little WeaverPloceus luteolus (Lichtenstein, 1823) | PloceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=562330 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4KH9G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.