Dessonornis

Dessonornis
white-throated robin-chat (Dessonornis humeralis)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Dessonornis Smith, 1836
Type species
Dessonornis humeralis

Dessonornis is a genus of birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that are found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Taxonomy

The genus Dessonornis was introduced in 1836 by British ornithologist Andrew Smith to accommodate a single species, the white-throated robin-chat, which is therefore considered as the type species. ^{[1] [2]} The name Dessonornis is a misspelling, Smith corrected it to Bessonornis in 1840. ^[3] The name combines the Ancient Greek bēssa meaning "glen" or "wooded valley" with ornis meaning "bird". ^[4] The spelling correction is not recognized by International Ornithologists' Union. ^[5]

Species in this genus was previously placed in Cossypha , while phylogenetic studies revealed that they are more closely related to Cichladusa and Xenocopsychus . ^[6] In the taxonomic revision to create monophyletic groups, Dessonornis was resurrected with the following species: ^[5]

• White-throated robin-chat, Dessonornis humeralis
• Cape robin-chat, Dessonornis caffer
• Archer's ground robin, Dessonornis archeri
• Olive-flanked ground robin, Dessonornis anomalus

References

1. Smith, Andrew (1836). Report of the expedition for exploring central Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope, June 23, 1834, Under the Superintendence of Dr. A. Smith. Cape Town: Printed at the Government Gazette Office. p. 46.
2. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 50.
3. Smith, Andrew (1840). Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. Vol. 2, Aves. London: Smith, Elder. Plate 48, text. The book was published in parts. The part including Plate 48 was published in March 1840. See: Barnard, K.H. (1950). "The dates of issue of the "Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa" and the "Marine Investigations in South Africa"". Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History. 2 (6): 187–189. doi:10.3366/jsbnh.1950.2.6.187.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 134. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. Gill, F; Donsker, D; Rasmussen, P, eds. (2023). IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). doi:10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2 (inactive 11 July 2025).
6. 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. Bibcode:2023MolPE.17807646Z. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646 . PMID   36265831.