Melaenornis
Southern black flycatcher (Melaenornis pammelaina)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Tribe: Muscicapini
Genus: Melaenornis
G.R. Gray, 1840
Type species
Melasoma edolioides[1]
Swainson, 1937
Species

see text

Melaenornis is a genus of small passerine birds in the large family Muscicapidae commonly known as the Old World flycatchers. They are restricted to sub-Saharan Africa.

Taxonomy

The genus Melaenornis was introduced in 1840 by the English zoologist George Gray. It was a replacement name for Melasoma that had been introduced in 1837 by William Swainson with the northern black flycatcher as the type species.[2] Melasoma was pre-occupied by "Melasoma Dillwyn" that had been introduced in 1831 by James Stephens for a genus of insects.[3][4] The name Melaenornis combines the Ancient Greek melas, melaina meaning "black" with ornis meaning "bird".[5]

Species

The genus contains the following seven species:[6]

This genus formerly included fewer species. The results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 led to a reorganization of the Old World flycatchers family in which the four species in Bradornis and the single species in Sigelus were merged into Melaenornis.[6][7] The genus formerly included the pale flycatcher and the chat flycatcher. Based on a phylogenetic study published in 2023, they were moved to the resurrected genus Agricola.[8][6]

References

  1. ^ "Muscicapidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. ^ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 35.
  3. ^ Stephens, James Francis (1831). Illustrations of British entomology; or, A synopsis of indigenous insects: containing their generic and specific distinctions. Vol. 4: Mandibulata. London: Baldwin and Cradock. p. 349.
  4. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 296.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ a b c Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  7. ^ Sangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044.
  8. ^ Zhao, M.; Gordon Burleigh, J.; Olsson, U.; Alström, P.; Kimball, R.T. (2023). "A near-complete and time-calibrated phylogeny of the Old World flycatchers, robins and chats (Aves, Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 178: 107646. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646.

Further reading

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