Catharus

Historically, the migratory and residents were placed in two genera: Hylocichla and Catharus, respectively.{{Cite journal|last=Ridgway|first=Robert|date=1907|title=Ridgway's 'The Birds of North and Middle America,' Part IV|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/90212|journal=The Auk|volume=24|issue=4|pages=450–451|doi=10.2307/4070590|jstor=4070590}} However, molecular studies indicate that hermit thrush (C. guttatus) is more closely related to three Neotropical species (C. occidentalis, C. gracilirostris, C. frantzii) than to the long-distance migrants which it superficially resembles.{{Cite journal|last1=Outlaw|first1=Diana C.|last2=Voelker|first2=Gary|last3=Mila|first3=Borja|last4=Girman|first4=Derek J.|title=Evolution of Long-Distance Migration in and Historical Biogeography of Catharus Thrushes: A Molecular Phylogenetic Approach|date=April 2003|journal=The Auk|volume=120|issue=2|pages=299–310|doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0299:EOLMIA]2.0.CO;2|issn=0004-8038|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Everson|first1=Kathryn M.|last2=McLaughlin|first2=Jessica F.|last3=Cato|first3=Iris A.|last4=Evans|first4=Maryanne M.|last5=Gastaldi|first5=Angela R.|last6=Mills|first6=Kendall K.|last7=Shink|first7=Katie G.|last8=Wilbur|first8=Sara M.|last9=Winker|first9=Kevin|date=2019-10-01|title=Speciation, gene flow, and seasonal migration in Catharus thrushes (Aves:Turdidae)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=139|pages=106564|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106564|pmid=31330265|issn=1055-7903|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019MolPE.13906564E }} This pattern of homoplasy may be the result of two independent origins of migration in the genus, and the convergent evolution of phenotypic characters associated with migration.

The taxonomy of Catharus dates to the 18th century and has a confusing history resulting from multiple cryptic species, taxonomic composites, misidentified species, and other historical errors.{{Cite journal|last=Phillips|first=Allan R.|date=1969|title=An Ornithological Comedy of Errors: Catharus occidentalis and C. Frantzii|journal=The Auk|volume=86|issue=4|pages=605–623|doi=10.2307/4083450|jstor=4083450|issn=0004-8038|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Halley|first=Matthew R.|date=June 2018|title=The ambiguous identity of Turdus mustelinus Wilson, and a neotype designation for the Veery Catharus fuscescens (Stephens)|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=138|issue=2|pages=79–92|doi=10.25226/bboc.v138i2.2018.a3|s2cid=165880476|issn=0007-1595|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Halley|first=Matthew R.|date=September 2019|title=The misidentification of Turdus ustulatus Nuttall, and the names of the nightingale-thrushes (Turdidae: Catharus)|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=139|issue=3|pages=238–259|doi=10.25226/bboc.v139i3.2019.a6|s2cid=202727929|issn=0007-1595|doi-access=free}} The name Catharus, authored by Charles Lucien Bonaparte, is derived from the Ancient Greek {{lang|grc|{{linktext|καθαρός}}}} ({{transliteration|grc|katharós}}) meaning "pure" or "clean", and refers to the plumage of the orange-billed nightingale-thrush (C. aurantiirostris).{{cite book|last=Jobling|first=James A|url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling|title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names|publisher=Christopher Helm|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n94 94]}}

File:Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, Prince di Canino. Li Wellcome V0006453.jpg

Species delimitation in Catharus remains an active topic of study and multiple taxonomic splits have been proposed and/or adopted during the last half century, to recognize long-overlooked cryptic species. For example, evidence supporting the split of C. frantzii and C. occidentalis was published in 1969; evidence supporting the split of C. bicknelli and C. minimus was published in 1993;{{Cite journal|last=OUELLET|first=H|date=1993|title=Bicknell's thrush: taxonomic status and distribution|url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=3939954|journal=Bicknell's Thrush: Taxonomic Status and Distribution|volume=105|issue=4|pages=545–572|issn=0043-5643}} most recently, evidence supporting the split of C. dryas and C. maculatus was published in 2017.{{Cite journal|last1=Halley|first1=Matthew R.|last2=Klicka|first2=John C.|last3=Clee|first3=Paul R. Sesink|last4=Weckstein|first4=Jason D.|date=2017-06-13|title=Restoring the species status of Catharus maculatus (Aves: Turdidae), a secretive Andean thrush, with a critique of the yardstick approach to species delimitation|url=https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4276.3.4|journal=Zootaxa|language=en|volume=4276|issue=3|pages=387–404|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4276.3.4|issn=1175-5334|doi-access=free}} The sister taxa C. ustulatus and C. swainsoni have also been treated at species rank by some authors.{{Cite journal|last1=Piacentini|first1=Vítor de Q.|last2=Aleixo|first2=Alexandre|last3=Agne|first3=Carlos Eduardo|last4=Maurício|first4=Giovanni Nachtigall|last5=Pacheco|first5=José Fernando|last6=Bravo|first6=Gustavo A.|last7=Brito|first7=Guilherme R. R.|last8=Naka|first8=Luciano N.|last9=Olmos|first9=Fabio|last10=Posso|first10=Sergio|last11=Silveira|first11=Luís Fábio|date=2015-12-31|title=Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee / Lista comentada das aves do Brasil pelo Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos|url=http://www.revbrasilornitol.com.br/BJO/article/view/1263|journal=Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia - Brazilian Journal of Ornithology|volume=23|issue=2|pages=90–298|doi=10.1007/BF03544294|issn=2178-7875|doi-access=free}}

The nightingale-thrushes, revered for their beautiful songs, have long been compared to the common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos). Theodore Roosevelt once remarked that, "In melody, and above all in that finer, higher melody where the chords vibrate with the touch of eternal sorrow, [L. megarhynchos] cannot rank with such singers as the Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush. The serene, ethereal beauty of the Hermit's song, rising and falling through the still evening under the archways of hoary mountain forests that have endured from time everlasting".{{Cite book|last1=Mathews|first1=F. Schuyler|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/28116|title=Field book of wild birds and their music : a description of the character and music of birds, intended to assist in the identification of species common in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains|last2=Ussher|first2=R. D.|date=1921|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|edition=Rev. and enl.|location=New York}} A study published in 2014 presented evidence that hermit thrush songs, like human music, tend to be constructed of frequency ratios that are expressed as simple mathematical ratios and follow the harmonic series.{{Cite journal|last1=Doolittle|first1=Emily L.|last2=Gingras|first2=Bruno|last3=Endres|first3=Dominik M.|last4=Fitch|first4=W. Tecumseh|date=2014-11-18|title=Overtone-based pitch selection in hermit thrush song: Unexpected convergence with scale construction in human music|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=111|issue=46|pages=16616–16621|doi=10.1073/pnas.1406023111|issn=0027-8424|pmid=25368163|pmc=4246323|bibcode=2014PNAS..11116616D|doi-access=free}}

{{cladogram|caption=Molecular phylogeny of Catharus based on Everson et al. (2019){{Cite journal | last1=Everson | first1=K.M. | last2=McLaughlin | first2=J.F. | last3=Cato | first3=I.A. | last4=Evans | first4=M.M. | last5=Gastaldi | first5=A.R. | last6=Mills | first6=K.K. | last7=Shink | first7=K.G.| last8=Wilbur | first8=S.M. | last9=Winker | first9=K. | date=2019 | title=Speciation, gene flow, and seasonal migration in Catharus thrushes (Aves:Turdidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution | volume=139 | issue=106564 | page=106564 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106564| pmid=31330265 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2019MolPE.13906564E }} with updates from Halley et al. (2017) and Halley (2019)

|clades={{clade

|newick1=(Hylocichla mustelina,((((C. ustulatus,C. swainsoni),((C. minimus,C. bicknelli),C. fuscescens)),(((C. guttatus),C. occidentalis),(C. gracilirostris,(C. frantzii)))),((C. fuscater,(C. dryas,C. maculatus)),(C. aurantiirostris,C. mexicanus))))

}}

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Category:Bird genera

Category:Birds of the Americas

Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte