Gracupica Explained

Gracupica is a genus of Asian birds in the family Sturnidae. It is sometimes merged with Sturnus or Sturnia.

Taxonomy

The genus Gracupica was introduced in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson to accommodate the black-collared starling which is therefore the type species.^{[1] [2]} The genus name combines the Latin graculus meaning "jackdaw" with pica meaning "magpie".^[3]

Species

The genus contains four species.^[4]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Gracupica nigricollis		Brunei, Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
	Gracupica contra	Indian pied myna	Indian subcontinent
	Gracupica floweri	Siamese pied myna	mainland Southeast Asia
	Gracupica jalla	Javan pied myna	southern Sumatra, Java, and Bali

A 2021 study found that G. contra represents a species complex of 3 distinct species formerly thought to be subspecies of G. contra: the Indian pied myna (G. contra sensu stricto) from most of the Indian Subcontinent, Myanmar, and Yunnan in China; the Siamese pied myna (G. floweri) from Thailand and Cambodia, and the possibly extinct in the wild Javan pied myna (G. jalla), historically known from Java and Bali in Indonesia.^[5] The International Ornithological Congress has accepted these results.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Book: Lesson, René . René Lesson . 1831 . Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Méthodique . French . Paris . F.G. Levrault . 401 (livraison 6) . Published in 8 livraisons between 1830 and 1831. For the publication date see: Book: Dickinson . E.C. . Edward C. Dickinson . Overstreet . L.K. . Dowsett . R.J. . Bruce . M.D. . 2011 . Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers . Northampton, UK . Aves Press . 978-0-9568611-1-5 . 119 .
2. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Greenway . James C. Jr . 1962 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 15 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 104 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 176 .
4. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2021 . Nuthatches, Wallcreeper, treecreepers, mockingbirds, starlings, oxpeckers . IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 11 January 2022 .
5. Baveja. Pratibha. Garg. Kritika M.. Chattopadhyay. Balaji. Sadanandan. Keren R.. Prawiradilaga. Dewi M.. Yuda. Pramana. Lee. Jessica G. H.. Rheindt. Frank E.. Using historical genome-wide DNA to unravel the confused taxonomy in a songbird lineage that is extinct in the wild. Evolutionary Applications. 2021. 14. 3. 698–709. en. 10.1111/eva.13149. 33767745. 7980273. 1752-4571. free. 2021EvApp..14..698B .
6. Web site: Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List. 2021-07-15. en-US.