NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Great-billed Heron
Ardea sumatrana 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.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ardea sumatrana Raffles, 1822
- Name authority
- Raffles, 1822
- Common name
- Great-billed Heron
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Ardeidae
- Genus
- Ardea
- 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
- orderPelecaniformes
- familyArdeidae Leach, 1820
- genusArdea Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesArdea sumatrana Raffles, 1822
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ardea. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow-billed EgretArdea brachyrhyncha (A. E. Brehm, 1854) | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Western Cattle EgretArdea ibis Linnaeus, 1758 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Medium EgretArdea intermedia Wagler, 1829 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great EgretArdea alba Linnaeus, 1758 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great Blue HeronArdea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Humblot's HeronArdea humbloti Milne-Edwards & A. Grandidier, 1885 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-headed HeronArdea melanocephala Children & Vigors, 1826 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-necked HeronArdea pacifica Latham, 1801 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Purple HeronArdea purpurea Linnaeus, 1766 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Goliath HeronArdea goliath Cretzschmar, 1829 | ArdeidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ardea sumatrana sumatrana Raffles, 1822 Raffles, 1822 | synonym |
| Ardea sumatrana mathewsae Mathews, 1912 Mathews, 1912 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
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.
- Raffles, & Thomas Stamford. (1822). Second Part of the Descriptive Catalogue of a Zoological Collection made in the Island of Sumatra and its Vicinity. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Vol. 13, No. 2. 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:5VRSS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.