Dendrocopos is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia and Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles. The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816. The name Dendrocopus is a combination of the Greek words dendron , meaning "tree" and kopos, "striking ". The type species was specified as the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) by the Scottish ornithologist Edward Hargitt in 1890 in his catalogue of woodpeckers in the collection of the British Museum.