Dessonornis

The genus Dessonornis was introduced in 1836 by British ornithologist Andrew Smith to accommodate a single species, the white-throated robin-chat, which is therefore considered as the type species.{{ cite book | last=Smith | first=Andrew | author-link=Andrew Smith (zoologist) | date=1836 | title=Report of the expedition for exploring central Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope, June 23, 1834, Under the Superintendence of Dr. A. Smith | location=Cape Town | publisher=Printed at the Government Gazette Office | page=46 | url=https://archive.org/details/reportexpeditio00afrigoog/page/n52/mode/1up }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Paynter | editor2-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1964 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=50 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486239 }} The name Dessonornis is a misspelling, Smith corrected it to Bessonornis in 1840.{{ cite book | last=Smith | first=Andrew | author-link=Andrew Smith (zoologist) | date=1840 | title=Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa | volume=2, Aves | location=London | publisher=Smith, Elder | at=Plate 48, text | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51569995 }} The book was published in parts. The part including Plate 48 was published in March 1840. See: {{ cite journal | last=Barnard | first=K.H. | date=1950 | title=The dates of issue of the "Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa" and the "Marine Investigations in South Africa" | journal=Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History | volume=2 | issue=6 | pages=187–189 | doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1950.2.6.187 }} The name combines the Ancient Greek bēssa meaning "glen" or "wooded valley" with ornis meaning "bird".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=134 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n134/mode/1up }} The spelling correction is not recognized by International Ornithologists' Union.{{cite book|editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1=F |editor-first2=D |editor-last2=Donsker |editor-first3=P |editor-last3=Rasmussen |year=2023 |title=IOC World Bird List (v 13.2) |doi=10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/}}

Species in this genus was previously placed in Cossypha, while phylogenetic studies revealed that they are more closely related to Cichladusa and Xenocopsychus.{{Cite journal | last1=Zhao | first1=M. | last2=Gordon Burleigh | first2=J. | last3=Olsson | first3=U. | last4=Alström | first4=P. | last5=Kimball | first5=R.T. | date=2023 | title=A near-complete and time-calibrated phylogeny of the Old World flycatchers, robins and chats (Aves, Muscicapidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=178 | pages=107646 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646 | pmid=36265831 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2023MolPE.17807646Z | url=https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1717024/FULLTEXT01 }} In the taxonomic revision to create monophyletic groups, Dessonornis was resurrected with the following species:

• White-throated robin-chat, Dessonornis humeralis
• Cape robin-chat, Dessonornis caffer
• Archer's ground robin, Dessonornis archeri
• Olive-flanked ground robin, Dessonornis anomalus

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Category:Muscicapidae

Category:Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Category:Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist)

Category:Birds described in 1836

Category:Bird genera