Melaenornis

Melaenornis
Southern black flycatcher (Melaenornis pammelaina)
Scientific 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]

Image	Common Name	Scientific Name	Distribution
	Angola slaty flycatcher	Melaenornis brunneus	Angola
	White-eyed slaty flycatcher	Melaenornis fischeri	eastern Afromontane
	Abyssinian slaty flycatcher	Melaenornis chocolatinus	Ethiopian Highlands
	Nimba flycatcher	Melaenornis annamarulae	Western Guinean lowland forests
-	Yellow-eyed black flycatcher	Melaenornis ardesiacus	Albertine Rift montane forests
	Northern black flycatcher	Melaenornis edolioides	northern Sub-Saharan Africa
	Southern black flycatcher	Melaenornis pammelaina	southern Sub-Saharan Africa

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. 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. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S. 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. Bibcode:2023MolPE.17807646Z. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646 . PMID   36265831.

Further reading

• Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World . Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions. ISBN   84-96553-06-X.
• "Melaenornis". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.