Tarsiger is a genus of six species of birds in the family Muscicapidae. They are small, mostly brightly coloured insectivorous birds native to Asia and (one species) northeastern Europe; four of the six species are confined to the Sino-Himalayan mountain system.[1] The genus has sometimes been included within the related genus Luscinia, but the species have been found to form a distinct monophyletic group.[2]

Tarsiger
Collared bush robin (Tarsiger johnstoniae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Subfamily: Saxicolinae
Genus: Tarsiger
Hodgson, 1845
Type species
Tarsiger chrysaeus (golden bush robin)
Hodgson, 1845

Taxonomy

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The genus Tarsiger was introduced in 1845 by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson with the golden bush robin as the type species.[3][4] The genus name is from Ancient Greek tarsos, "flat of the foot" and Latin gerere, "to carry".[5]

The genus contains the following species:[6]

The Himalayan bluetail was formerly treated as a subspecies of the red-flanked bluetail.[1] It was split on the basis of its more intense plumage colours, and its ecology and behaviour, being a short-distance altitudinal migrant not a long-distance migrant.[8]

The phylogenetic relationships between the species were determined in a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022:[7]

Tarsiger

Rufous-breasted bush robin (Tarsiger hyperythrus)

Red-flanked bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus)

Qilian bluetail (Tarsiger albocoeruleus)

Himalayan bluetail (Tarsiger rufilatus)

White-browed bush robin (Tarsiger indicus)

Collared bush robin (Tarsiger johnstoniae)

Golden bush robin (Tarsiger chrysaeus)

References

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  1. ^ a b Collar, N.J. (2005). "Genus Tarsiger". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 754–756. ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6.
  2. ^ 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. Bibcode:2010MolPE..57..380S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044.
  3. ^ Hodgson, Brian Houghton (1845). "Abstract of a paper on Nepalese birds". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 13: 22–37 [28].
  4. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 33.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. p. 379. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b Wei, C.; Sangster, G.; Olsson, U.; Rasmussen, P.C.; Svensson, L.; Yao, C.-T.; Carey, G.J.; Leader, P.J.; Zhang, R.; Chen, G.; Song, G.; Lei, F.; Wilcove, D.S.; Alström, P.; Liu, Y. (2022). "Cryptic species in a colorful genus: Integrative taxonomy of the bush robins (Aves, Muscicapidae, Tarsiger) suggests two overlooked species". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 175: 107580. Bibcode:2022MolPE.17507580W. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107580. PMID 35810968.
  8. ^ Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Anderton, John C. (2012). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vol. 2: Attributes and Status (2nd ed.). Washington D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Lynx Edicions. pp. 393–394. ISBN 978-84-96553-87-3.