Black-naped Fruit Dove
Ptilinopus melanospilus (Salvadori, 1875)
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.

A male Black-naped Fruit Dove in the Owens Aviary at the San Diego Zoo
Devin Morris · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black-naped fruit dove (Ptilinopus melanospilus), also known as the black-headed fruit dove, is a medium-sized, up to 24 cm (9.4 in) long, green fruit dove with yellowish bill and iris. The male has a pale grey head with a black nape, yellow throat, and golden yellow and pink undertail coverts. The plumage of the female and the young is entirely green.
Wikipedia contributors, Black-naped fruit dove; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:52:05.999056+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ptilinopus melanospilus (Salvadori, 1875)
- Name authority
- (Salvadori, 1875)
- Common name
- Black-naped Fruit Dove
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Columbiformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Ptilinopus
- 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
- orderColumbiformes
- familyColumbidae
- subfamilyRaphinae
- genusPtilinopus Swainson, 1825
- speciesPtilinopus melanospilus (Salvadori, 1875)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ptilinopus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Orange-fronted Fruit DovePtilinopus aurantiifrons G. R. Gray, 1858 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Makatea Fruit DovePtilinopus chalcurus G. R. Gray, 1860 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Coroneted Fruit DovePtilinopus coronulatus G. R. Gray, 1858 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-naped Fruit DovePtilinopus dohertyi Rothschild, 1896 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-headed Fruit DovePtilinopus eugeniae (Gould, 1856) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-eared Fruit DovePtilinopus fischeri Brüggemann, 1876 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Carunculated Fruit DovePtilinopus granulifrons Hartert, 1898 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-bellied Fruit DovePtilinopus greyi Bonaparte, 1857 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rapa Fruit DovePtilinopus huttoni Finsch, 1874 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grey-headed Fruit DovePtilinopus hyogastrus (Temminck, 1824) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Orange-bellied Fruit DovePtilinopus iozonus G. R. Gray, 1858 | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jambu Fruit DovePtilinopus jambu (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) | ColumbidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ptilinopus melanospila (Salvadori, 1875) (Salvadori, 1875) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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=676914 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.
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:4Q7NQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.