Red-throated rock martin explained

The red-throated rock martin (Ptyonoprogne rufigula) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family, Hirundinidae. It is found over a large area of Africa from Sierra Leone eastwards to Eritrea and Ethiopia and then south across East Africa to Zimbabwe and northern Mozambique. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the large rock martin.

Taxonomy

The red-throated rock martin was formally described in 1884 by the explorer Gustav Fischer and the ornithologist Anton Reichenow based on a specimen collected in the highlands of Eritrea. They coined the binomial name Cotyle rufigula.^{[1] [2]} It is now one of five martins placed in the genus Ptyonoprogne that was introduced in 1850 by German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.^[3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek πτυον/ptuon meaning "fan" with Latin progne meaning "swallow".^[4] The specific epithet rufigula is from Latin rufus meaning "red" with gula meaning "throat".^[5] The red-throated rock martin was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the southern African large rock martin (Ptyonoprogne fuligula) with the English name "rock martin" for the combined taxa. The red-throated rock martin was elevated to species status based on morphological differences and phylogenomic analysis.^{[3] [6]}

Three subspecies are recognised:^[3]

• P. r. pusilla (Zedlitz, 1908) – south Mali to north Ethiopia and Eritrea
• P. r. bansoensis (Bannerman, 1923) – Sierra Leone to Nigeria and Cameroon
• P. r. rufigula (Fischer, GA & Reichenow, 1884) – north Nigeria and Chad to central Ethiopia south to Zimbabwe and north Mozambique

Notes and References

1. Fischer . Gustav . Gustav Fischer (explorer) . Reichenow . Anton . Anton Reichenow . 1884 . Neue Vogelarten aus dem Massailand (Inneres Ostafrika) . Journal für Ornithologie . 32 . 165 . 52-58 [53] . German .
2. Book: Mayr . Ernst . Ernst Mayr . Greenway . James C. Jr . 1960 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 9 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 103 .
3. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela C. Rasmussen . August 2024 . Swallows . IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 7 September 2024 .
4. Web site: Jobling . James A. . Ptyonoprogne . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 7 September 2024 .
5. Web site: Jobling . James A. . rufigula . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . 7 September 2024 .
6. Brown . Clare Elizabeth . 2019 . Phylogeny and Evolution of Swallows (Hirundinidae) With a Transcriptomic Perspective on Seasonal Migration . Lousina State University . LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 4823 .