Rock thrush
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic Taxobox
| name = Rock thrushes
| image = Monticola brevipes, Namibia 1.jpg
| image_caption = Male short-toed rock thrush (Monticola brevipes)
| taxon = Monticola
| authority = F. Boie, 1822
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See text
| synonyms =
{{Species list
|Pseudocossyphus|(Sharpe, 1883)
}}
| type_species = Turdus saxatilis
| type_species_authority=Linnaeus, 1766
}}
The rock thrushes, Monticola, are a genus of chats, medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous songbirds. All are Old World birds, and most are associated with mountainous regions.
Taxonomy
The genus was erected by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1822.{{ cite book | last1=Mayr | first1=Ernst | last2=Paynter | first2=Raymond A. Jr. | year=1964 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=135 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486324 }}{{ cite journal | last=Boie | first=F. | year=1822 | title=Ueber Classification, insonderheit der europäischen Vogel | journal=Isis von Oken | volume=10–11 | at=Col. 552 | language=de | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27515507 }} Monticola is the Latin word for mountain-dweller or mountaineer.{{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=260 }} The genus was formerly included in the thrush family Turdidae.{{cite book | editor1-last=Dickinson | editor1-first=E.C. | year=2003 | title=The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | edition=3rd | place=London | publisher=Christopher Helm | isbn=978-0-7136-6536-9 }} Molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2004 and 2010 showed that the species are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.{{ cite journal | last1=Voelker | first1=G. | last2=Spellman | first2=G.M. | year=2004 | title=Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA evidence of polyphyly in the avian superfamily Muscicapoidea | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=30 | issue=2 | pages=386–394 | doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00191-X | pmid=14715230 }}{{ cite journal | last1=Sangster | first1=G. | last2=Alström | first2=P. | last3=Forsmark | first3=E. | last4=Olsson | first4=U. | year=2010 | title=Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=57 | issue=1 | pages=380–392 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008 | pmid=20656044}}
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Image | Common Name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125px | Blue-capped rock thrush | Monticola cinclorhyncha | Himalayas; winters to western and eastern Ghats |
| 125px | White-throated rock thrush | Monticola gularis | Manchuria |
| 125px | Chestnut-bellied rock thrush | Monticola rufiventris | Himalayas, Patkai and southern China |
| - | Short-toed rock thrush | Monticola brevipes | arid areas of southwestern Angola and southern Africa |
| 125px | Sentinel rock thrush | Monticola explorator | southern Africa |
| 125px | Amber Mountain rock thrush | Monticola erythronotus | Amber Mountain, Madagascar |
| 125px | Forest rock thrush | Monticola sharpei | Madagascar |
| 125px | Benson's rock thrush | Monticola sharpei bensoni | southern-central Madagascar |
| 125px | Littoral rock thrush | Monticola imerina | southern coastal Madagascar |
| - | Little rock thrush | Monticola rufocinereus | eastern Afromontane |
| 125px | Common rock thrush | Monticola saxatilis | temperate rocky regions of Palearctic; winters to Africa |
| 125px | Blue rock thrush | Monticola solitarius | temperate and elevated areas of Palearctic; winters to Africa, Arabia and Indomalaya |
| 125px | Cape rock thrush | Monticola rupestris | southern Africa |
| 125px | Miombo rock thrush | Monticola angolensis | Miombo woodlands |
| 125px | White-winged cliff chat | Monticola semirufus | Ethiopian Highlands |
Fossil record
Monticola pongraczi (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary) Kessler, E. 2013. Neogene songbirds (Aves, Passeriformes) from Hungary. – Hantkeniana, Budapest, 2013, 8: 37-149.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- {{cite journal | last1=Outlaw | first1=R.K. | last2=Voelker | first2=G. | last3=Outlaw | first3=D.C. | year=2007 | title=Molecular systematics and historical biogeography of the Rock-thrushes (Muscicapidae: Monticola) | journal=The Auk | volume=124 | issue=2 | pages=561–577 | doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[561:MSAHBO]2.0.CO;2 | doi-access=free }}{{open access}}
{{Passerida|M.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1050525}}
External links
{{Commons category|Monticola}}
- [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/thrushes-turdidae Rock thrush videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
{{muscicapidae-stub}}