greater melampitta

{{Short description|Species of bird}}

{{speciesbox

| name = Greater melampitta

| image =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=Megalampitta gigantea |volume=2016 |page=e.T22706088A94050207 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706088A94050207.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}

| genus = Megalampitta

| parent_authority = Schodde & Christidis, 2014

| species = gigantea

| authority = (Rothschild, 1899)

| synonyms = Melampitta gigantea}}

File:Melampitta_lugubris_-_Lesser_Melampitta.png

The greater melampitta (Megalampitta gigantea) is a species of bird in the family Melampittidae. It is the only species in the genus Megalampitta, although it was once placed in the genus Melampitta with the lesser melampitta.{{cite journal|last1=Schodde|first1=R.|last2=Christidis|first2=L.|title=Relicts from Tertiary Australasia: undescribed families and subfamilies of songbirds (Passeriformes) and their zoogeographic signal|journal=Zootaxa|date=2014|volume=3786|issue=5|pages=501–522|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3786.5.1|pmid=24869551|doi-access=free}} Formerly classified as a bird-of-paradise, the little-known greater melampitta has an uncertain taxonomy and is sometimes believed to be affiliated to pitohuis, as it appears to be poisonous to eat (Frith and Beehler 1998).

It is found in New Guinea.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is often found in karsts, and nests in narrow limestone sinkholes.{{Cite journal |last1=Müller |first1=Ingo A. |last2=Thörn |first2=Filip |last3=Rajan |first3=Samyuktha |last4=Ericson |first4=Per |last5=Dumbacher |first5=John P. |last6=Maiah |first6=Gibson |last7=Blom |first7=Mozes |last8=Jønsson |first8=Knud A. |last9=Irestedt |first9=Martin |date=2023-10-22 |title=Species-specific dynamics may cause deviations from general biogeographical predictions – evidence from a population genomics study of a New Guinean endemic passerine bird family (Melampittidae) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563072 |access-date=2024-01-29 |doi=10.1101/2023.10.19.563072 |s2cid=265213552 }} It is primarily ground-dwelling, and cannot fly for long distances.