The Gilolo fantail (Rhipidura torrida) is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae that is endemic to the northern Maluku Islands from Halmahera south to the Obi. The English "Gilolo" is an earlier name for Halmahera. The Gilolo fantail was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Australian rufous fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons).

Gilolo fantail
Illustration by Joseph Wolf that accompanied Wallace's description
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Rhipiduridae
Genus: Rhipidura
Species:
R. torrida
Binomial name
Rhipidura torrida
Wallace, 1865

Taxonomy edit

The Gilolo fantail was formally described and illustrated in 1865 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace based on a specimen collected on the summit of the Gamalama volcano on Ternate in the Maluku Islands. He placed it with the other fantails in the genus Rhipidura and coined the binomial name Rhipidura torrida.[1][2] The specific epithet is from Latin meaning "scorched", "torrid" or "burning".[3] The Gilolo fantail was formerly considered as a subspecies of the rufous fantail (now the Australian rufous fantail) (Rhipidura rufifrons) but is now treated as a separate species based on differences in the plumage, voice and genetics.[4][5] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ Wallace, Alfred Russel (1865). "Descriptions of new birds from the Malayan Archipelago". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 474–481 [477, Plate 28].
  2. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 554.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 388. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Klicka, L.B.; Campillo, L.C.; Manthey, J.D.; Andersen, M.J.; Dumbacher, J.P.; Filardi, C.E.; Joseph, L.; Uy, J.A.C.; Weidemann, D.E.; Moyle, R.G. (2023). "Genomic and geographic diversification of a 'great-speciator' (Rhipidura rufifrons)". Ornithology. 140 (1): ukac049. doi:10.1093/ornithology/ukac049.
  5. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Orioles, drongos, fantails". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 January 2024.