NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Black Hornbill
Anthracoceros malayanus (Raffles, 1822)
Source-backed taxonomic record
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.
Black Hornbill on Hutan Lindung Sungai Wain. This large bird with a vulnerable status is basking in the morning sun
Annonimal · 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 hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) is a species of bird of the hornbill family Bucerotidae. It lives in Asia in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.
The species has a selectiveness towards the environment and resources when it comes to reproduction. It is a lowland specialist. This organism will only start breeding and nesting when there is a large supply of fruits available, and in trees of larger size. When there are limited resources available, and may curtail nesting for years when there is a low availability of fruits(4).
It is the major seed disperser for Durio graveolens, a species of durian. The connection is strong enough to reflect in some of the common names for the fruit: The Kenyah and Dayak peoples call it durian anggang (lit. 'hornbill durian'), and in Malay it is called durian burong/durian burung (lit. 'durian bird'). It also has a role in seed disbursement for Vitex pinnata.
It is known to fly for hours at a time.
It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.
Wikipedia contributors, Black hornbill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:52:25.795830+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anthracoceros malayanus (Raffles, 1822)
- Name authority
- (Raffles, 1822)
- Common name
- Black Hornbill
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Bucerotiformes
- Family
- Bucerotidae
- Genus
- Anthracoceros
- 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
- orderBucerotiformes
- familyBucerotidae
- genusAnthracoceros Reichenbach, 1849
- speciesAnthracoceros malayanus (Raffles, 1822)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Anthracoceros. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Palawan HornbillAnthracoceros marchei Oustalet, 1885 | BucerotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sulu HornbillAnthracoceros montani (Oustalet, 1880) | BucerotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Oriental Pied HornbillAnthracoceros albirostris (Shaw, 1808) | BucerotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Malabar Pied HornbillAnthracoceros coronatus (Boddaert, 1783) | BucerotidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Buceros malayanus Raffles, 1822 Raffles, 1822 | 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=554422 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:5VGSC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.