hooked-pepperwort vs Long-tailed Sylph

Marsilea vestita compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Key Differences

• hooked-pepperwort is Near Threatened while Long-tailed Sylph is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	hooked-pepperwort	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Tracheophyta	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Polypodiopsida (Polypodiopsida)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Salviniales (Salviniales)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Marsileaceae	Trochilidae
Genus	Marsilea	Aglaiocercus
Species	Marsilea vestita	Aglaiocercus kingii

Conservation Status

hooked-pepperwort

NT — Near Threatened

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	hooked-pepperwort	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

hooked-pepperwort

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, among 5 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Canada and Cuba. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.