Reunion Stonechat
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| Reunion Stonechat | ||||||||||||||
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| Saxicola tectes (Gmelin, 1789) |
The Reunion Stonechat, Saxicola tectes[1], is a chat species endemic to Réunion island. This small passerine bird is common in clearings and open mountain bushlands. Its white eyebrows are the most prominent external difference with Saxicola torquata, the African Stonechat, whose eyebrow color is black.
It has for some time been included in the "Common Stonechat" (Saxicola torquata), but it is well distinct; it is an insular derivative of the African Stonechat. Its ancestors diverged from the sub-Saharan African lineage as it spread across the continent some 2-2.5 mya during the Late Pliocene.(Wink et al. 2002)
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Saxicola tectes. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Wink, M.; Sauer-Gürth, H. & Gwinner, E. (2002): Evolutionary relationships of stonechats and related species inferred from mitochondrial-DNA sequences and genomic fingerprinting. British Birds 95: 349-355. PDF fulltext
- ^ Etymology: Saxicola, "rock-dweller", from Latin saxum, a rock + incola, one who dwells someplace. tectes, onomatopoetic New Latin after the species' call[verification needed]; compare the Réunion Creole name, tec-tec.
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