Mentawai malkoha explained

The Mentawai malkoha (Phaenicophaeus oeneicaudus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west of Sumatra. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the chestnut-breasted malkoha.

Taxonomy

The Mentawai malkoha was formally described in 1855 by the French naturalists Jules and Édouard Verreaux under the current binomial name Phaenicophaeus oeneicaudus. They believed that their specimen had come from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).[1] The Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori realised that this was an error and the specimen must instead have come from the Mentawai Islands which lie in the Indian Ocean approximately off the western coast of Sumatra.[2] [3] The genus name Phaenicophaeus is from Ancient Greek φοινικοφαης (phoinikophaēs) meaning "of crimson appearance" or "red-gleaming".[4] The specific epithet oeneicaudus combines the Latin oenoo- meaning "wine" and cauda meaning "tail".[5] The Mentawai malkoha was formerly treated as a subspecies of the chestnut-breasted malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris). It was promoted to species status based on the morphological differences.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Verreaux . J. . Jules Verreaux . Verreaux . E. . Édouard Verreaux . 1855 . Notice sur le genre Phaenicophaeus, Vieill., Malcoha, Cuv. . French . Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée . 2nd series . 7 . 356–357 [357] .
  2. Salvadori . Tommaso . Tommaso Salvadori . 1894 . Viaggio del Dr. Elio Modigliani nelle isole Mentawei: Catalogo di una collezione di uccelli di Sipora . Italian, Latin . Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova . 2nd series . 14 . 588-601 [590-591] .
  3. Book: Peters . James Lee . James L. Peters . 1940 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 4 . Harvard University Press . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 55 .
  4. Web site: Jobling . James A. . Phaenicophaeus . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 31 August 2024 .
  5. Web site: Jobling . James A. . oeneicaudus . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 30 August 2024 .
  6. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 31 August 2024.

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