Emarginata (bird) explained

Emarginata is a genus of birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occur in southern Africa.

The three species in the genus were previously placed in the genus Cercomela. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that Cercomela was polyphyletic and that the type species Cercomela melanura (the blackstart) lay in a clade containing members of Oenanthe.^[1] A more comprehensive study published in 2012 confirmed the earlier results.^[2] In order to create monophyletic genera the species assigned to Cercomela were moved into other genera.^[3] Three species were placed in the resurrected genus Emarginata that had been introduced by the English ornithologist George Ernest Shelley in 1896.^[4]

The three species in the genus are:^[3]

• Sickle-winged chat (Emarginata sinuata)
• Karoo chat (Emarginata schlegelii)
• Tractrac chat (Emarginata tractrac)

Notes and References

1. Outlaw . R.K. . Voelker . G. . Bowie . R.C.K. . 2010 . Shall we chat? Evolutionary relationships in the genus Cercomela (Muscicapidae) and its relation to Oenanthe reveals extensive polyphyly among chats distributed in Africa, India and the Palearctic . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 55 . 1 . 284–292 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.09.023 . 19772925 .
2. Aliabadian . M. . Kaboli . M. . Förschler . M.I. . Nijman . V. . Chamani . A. . Tillier . A. . Prodon . R. . Pasquet . E. . Ericson . P.G.P. . Zuccon . D. . 2012 . Convergent evolution of morphological and ecological traits in the open-habitat chat complex (Aves, Muscicapidae: Saxicolinae) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 65 . 1 . 35–45 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2012.05.011 . 22634240 .
3. Web site: Gill . Frank . Donsker . David . 2016. Chats, Old World flycatchers . World Bird List Version 6.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. 20 May 2016 .
4. Book: Shelley, George Ernest . George Ernest Shelley . 1896 . Birds of Africa, comprising all the species which occur in the Ethiopian Region. Volume 1 . 1 . London . R.H. Porter . 89 .