The Jamaican tody (Todus todus) is a species of bird in the genus Todus endemic to Jamaica. Local names for the Jamaican tody include rasta bird, robin and robin redbreast. Taxonomy It was thought that the genus Todus was established in 1760, after the split from the kingfisher from the genus Alcedo. However, the exact historical relationship between the genus Todus and other close relatives was not confirmed until around 2004 when a paper was published on the molecular phylogenic relationships for the tody species. Mitochondrial DNA and nuclear gene sequences were used to discover the heterogeneity among genes in these species. Genus Todus is monophyletic and a relatively old group based on divergence approximations. Todies are closer to the Baryphthengus and Hylomanes genera, from the family Momotidae, than the Ceryle and Chloroceryle genera, from the family Alcedinidae. The family Todidae likely derived from a motmot-like ancestor during the Oligocene period. Palaeotodus emryi is the only tody that is known to be from the late Pleistocene, and it is a close relative of the tody motmot (Hylomanes momotula), the primitive genus of the Momotidae and possibly the closest living relative to the todies. It is believed that the Todidae were once widespread across North America but when there was a decrease in tropical conditions there, it is thought that this led to the confinement of the motmot-tody group to the Neotropics. The Jamaican tody is a member of the genus, Todus, which is composed of five species restricted to the Greater Antilles. All five species are very similar morphologically. The Cuban tody (Todus multicolor) is confined to the island of Cuba and can be found throughout the island, but tends to be more concentrated in shoreline habitats. The narrow-billed tody (Todus angustirostris) and the broad-billed tody (Todus subulatus) are both endemic to Hispaniola, composed of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The narrow-billed tody is mainly found in very humid montane forest while the broad-billed tody generally inhabits very dry forest and sub-desert areas. However, both of these species can be found in either habitat and are most equally distributed in dry, lower montane forests. The Puerto Rican tody (Todus mexicanus) is only found on the island of Puerto Rico. Similar to other tody species, they can be found in a variety of habitats ranging from the moist, Luquillo Rainforest to the more dry, limestone forest. Description The Jamaican tody is