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; 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]

Angola slaty flycatcher, Melaenornis brunneus
White-eyed slaty flycatcher, Melaenornis fischeri
Abyssinian slaty flycatcher, Melaenornis chocolatinus
Nimba flycatcher, Melaenornis annamarulae
Yellow-eyed black flycatcher, Melaenornis ardesiacus
Northern black flycatcher, Melaenornis edolioides
Southern black flycatcher, Melaenornis pammelaina

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

^ "Muscicapidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 296.
^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^ ^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.
^ 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.
^ 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. PMID 36265831.

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

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading