science

Polytminae

Polytminae is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Polytminae rather than just read about it. In short: Polytminae is one of the six subfamilies of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily contains 12 genera with a total of 29 species.

Key takeaways

Polytminae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Polytminae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Polytminae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Polytminae is one of the six subfamilies of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily contains 12 genera with a total of 29 species. The informal name "mangoes" has been proposed for this group as the seven species in the largest genus, Anthracothorax, include "mango" in their common name.

Taxonomy A molecular phylogenetic study of the hummingbirds published in 2007 found that the family consisted of nine clades. When Edward Dickinson and James Van Remsen, Jr. updated the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World for the 4th edition in 2013 they divided the nine clades into six subfamilies and proposed using the Latin name Polytminae for the "mango" clade, a name that had been introduced by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1849. Pre-molecular studies did not anticipate the existence of this clade, but a common feature is the presence of serrations on the cutting edge of the bill. An extreme example is the tooth-billed hummingbird (Androdon aequatorialis). Molecular phylogenetic studies by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published between 2007 and 2014 determined the relationships between the major groups of hummingbirds. In the cladogram below, the English names are those introduced in 1997. The Latin names are those proposed by Dickinson and Remsen in 2013.

The phylogenetic relationships between the genera in the subfamily Polytminae, as determined in the 2014 study, are shown below. The genus Eulampis was found to be nested within Anthracothorax, making Anthracothorax paraphyletic. No species from the genus Augastes was sampled in the molecular studies, but based on a comparison of plumage features and bill shapes, it is believed that Augastes is closely related to Schistes.

Taxonomic list The subfamily includes the following twelve genera:

References

Sources

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Polytminae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Polytminae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Polytminae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Polytminae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Polytminae

In research: Polytminae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Polytminae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Polytminae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bird subfamilies, Hummingbirds, Polytminae, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Polytminae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Polytminae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Polytminae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Polytminae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Polytminae in simple terms?

Polytminae is one of the six subfamilies of the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily contains 12 genera with a total of 29 species.

Why does Polytminae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Polytminae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Polytminae.