The mourning sierra finch (Rhopospina fruticeti) is a species of South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Rhopospina.

Mourning sierra finch
Male mourning sierra finch
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Rhopospina
Cabanis, 1851
Species:
R. fruticeti
Binomial name
Rhopospina fruticeti
(Kittlitz, 1833)
Synonyms

Fringilla fruticeti (protonym)
Phrygilus fruticeti

It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. It is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands and Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.

Taxonomy edit

The mourning sierra finch was formally described and illustrated in 1883 by the German naturalist Heinrich von Kittlitz under the binomial name Fringilla fruticeti.[2] This species was formerly included in the genus Phrygilus.[3] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Phrygilus was polyphyletic,[4] and in the subsequent rearrangement, the mourning sierra finch was moved to the resurrected genus Rhopospina that had been introduced in 1851 by Jean Cabanis.[5][6] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek rhōps meaning "bush" with spina meaning "finch". The specific epithet is from the Latin fruticetum meaning "thicket".[7]

Three subspecies are recognised:[6]

  • R. f. peruviana (Zimmer, JT, 1924) – Peru and west Bolivia
  • R. f. coracina (Sclater, PL, 1891) – southwest Bolivia and northeast Chile
  • R. f. fruticeti (Kittlitz, 1833) – north to south Chile and west Argentina

References edit

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Rhopospina fruticeti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22723080A132160426. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22723080A132160426.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^ Kittlitz, Heinrich von (1833). Kupfertafeln zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Johann David Sauerländer. pp. 18–19, Plate 23 fig. 1.
  3. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 105.
  4. ^ Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75: 41–77. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006. PMID 24583021.
  5. ^ Cabanis, Jean (1850–1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 135.
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2020). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 10.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  7. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 165, 335. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

External links edit