The black-eared catbird (Ailuroedus melanotis) is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found northern Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea, including its surrounding islands. They are named after their cat-like wails and black ear spot. It is described by its Latin name: ailur-cat, oidos-singing, melas-black and otus-ear.[2]
| Black-eared catbird | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Ptilonorhynchidae |
| Genus: | Ailuroedus |
| Species: | A. melanotis
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| Binomial name | |
| Ailuroedus melanotis (GR Gray, 1858)
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| Subspecies | |
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See text | |
Until 2016, A. melanotis was given the English common name of spotted catbird, this name has now been reassigned to A. maculosus. Martin Irestedt and colleagues examined the black-eared, spotted- and green catbird species complex genetically and found there were seven distinct lineages: the green catbird (A. crassirostris) of eastern Australia and the spotted catbird (A. maculosus) of eastern Queensland being the earliest offshoots, followed by the Huon catbird (A. astigmaticus) and black-capped catbird (A. melanocephalus) of eastern New Guinea, the Arfak catbird (A. arfakianus) of the Bird's Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula, the northern catbird (A. jobiensis) of central-northern New Guinea, and black-eared catbird (A.melanotis) of southwestern New Guinea, Aru Islands and far North Queensland.[3] These latter six species were all formerly subspecies before being split from A. melanotis.
Subspecies edit
Three subspecies are recognized:[4]
- Ailuroedus melanotis facialis – Mayr, 1936: found on southern slopes of montane west-central New Guinea
- Ailuroedus melanotis melanotis – Gray, 1858: found on lowland south-central New Guinea and Aru Islands
- Ailuroedus melanotis joanae – Mathews, 1941: found on eastern Cape York Peninsula (northeastern Australia)
References edit
- ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Ailuroedus melanotis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22703621A130218986. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22703621A130218986.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Lederer, R. and Burr, C. 2014. Latin for Birdwatchers. – Allen & Unwin.
- ^ Irestedt, Martin; Batalha-Filho, Henrique; Roselaar, Cees S.; Christidis, Les; Ericson, Per G. P. (2016). "Contrasting phylogeographic signatures in two Australo-Papuan bowerbird species complexes (Aves: Ailuroedus)". Zoologica Scripta. 45 (4): 365–379. doi:10.1111/zsc.12163. S2CID 85899118.
- ^ IOC v.6.3