Rock thrush

Rock thrushes
Male short-toed rock thrush (Monticola brevipes)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Monticola
F. Boie, 1822
Type species
Turdus saxatilis
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Pseudocossyphus (Sharpe, 1883)

The rock thrushes, Monticola, are a genus of chats, medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous songbirds. All are Old World birds, and most are associated with mountainous regions.

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1822.[1][2] Monticola is the Latin word for mountain-dweller or mountaineer.[3] The genus was formerly included in the thrush family Turdidae.[4] Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2004 and 2010 showed that the species are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.[5][6]

The genus contains the following species:[7]

Image Common Name Scientific Name Distribution
Blue-capped rock thrush Monticola cinclorhyncha Himalayas; winters to western and eastern Ghats
White-throated rock thrush Monticola gularis Manchuria
Chestnut-bellied rock thrush Monticola rufiventris Himalayas, Patkai and southern China
- Short-toed rock thrush Monticola brevipes arid areas of southwestern Angola and southern Africa
Sentinel rock thrush Monticola explorator southern Africa
Amber mountain rock thrush Monticola erythronotus Amber Mountain, Madagascar
Forest rock thrush Monticola sharpei Madagascar
Benson's rock thrush Monticola bensoni southern-central Madagascar
Littoral rock thrush Monticola imerina southern coastal Madagascar
- Little rock thrush Monticola rufocinereus eastern Afromontane
Common rock thrush Monticola saxatilis temperate rocky regions of Palearctic; winters to Africa
Blue rock thrush Monticola solitarius temperate and elevated areas of Palearctic;
winters to Africa, Arabia and Indomalaya
Cape rock thrush Monticola rupestris southern Africa
Miombo rock thrush Monticola angolensis Miombo woodlands
White-winged cliff chat Monticola semirufus Ethiopian Highlands

Fossil record

Monticola pongraczi (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary) [8]

References

  1. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 135.
  2. ^ Boie, F. (1822). "Ueber Classification, insonderheit der europäischen Vogel". Isis von Oken (in German). 10–11. Col. 552.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Dickinson, E.C., ed. (2003). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (3rd ed.). London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-6536-9.
  5. ^ Voelker, G.; Spellman, G.M. (2004). "Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA evidence of polyphyly in the avian superfamily Muscicapoidea". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30 (2): 386–394. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00191-X. PMID 14715230.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  8. ^ Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.

Further reading

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