The Santa Cruz fantail (Rhipidura melanolaema) is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae that is endemic to the Santa Cruz Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Australian rufous fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons).
| Santa Cruz fantail | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Rhipiduridae |
| Genus: | Rhipidura |
| Species: | R. melanolaema
|
| Binomial name | |
| Rhipidura melanolaema Sharpe, 1879
| |
Taxonomy edit
The Santa Cruz fantail was formally described in 1879 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe based on a specimen collected on Vanikoro in the Santa Cruz Islands. Sharpe placed it with the fantails in the genus Rhipidura and coined the binomial name Rhipidura melanolaema. This was a replacement name for Muscylva pectoralis Pucheran, 1853, that was preoccupied by Leucocirca pectoralis Jerdon, 1843.[1][2] The specific epithet melanolaema combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" with laimos meaning "throat".[3] The Santa Cruz fantail was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the rufous fantail (renamed the Australian rufous fantail) (Rhipidura rufifrons) but is now treated as a separate species mainly based on the genetic differences.[4][5]
Three subspecies are recognised:[5]
- R. m. agilis Mayr, 1931 – Nendö Island (west Santa Cruz Islands, southeast Solomon Islands)
- R. m. melanolaema Sharpe, 1879 – Vanikoro (south Santa Cruz Islands, southeast Solomon Islands)
- R. m. utupuae Mayr, 1931 – Utupua (central Santa Cruz Islands southeast Solomon Islands)
References edit
- ^ Sharpe, R. Bowdler (1879). Catalogue of the Passeriformes or Perching Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. Cichlomorphae Part I. Containing the families Campophagidae and Muscicapidae. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Vol. 4. London: Trustees of the British Museum. pp. 313–314.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 556.
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 247. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.