| Jamaican becard | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tityridae |
| Genus: | Pachyramphus |
| Species: | P. niger |
| Binomial name | |
| Pachyramphus niger (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Jamaican becard (Pachyramphus niger) is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. Its genus, Pachyramphus , has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae. [2]
The Jamaican becard was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae . He placed it with the shrikes in the genus Lanius and coined the binomial name Lanius niger. [3] [4] Gmelin based his description on the "black shrike" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had received two specimens from Jamaica. [5] The Jamaican becard is now one of 17 becards placed in the genus Pachyramphus that was introduced in 1839 by George Gray. [6] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [6]
It is endemic to Jamaica. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.