Taxonomic recommendations
On the basis of the results presented here, we recommend to redefine the generic limits in the open-habitat chats as the following:
1- the three sickel-winged chats (
Cercomela schlegelii, C. sinuata and
C. tractrac) form a well supported clade for which can be resurrected the genus name
Emarginata Shelley, 1896 (type species
Luscinia sinuata Sundevall, 1858), as suggested by
Outlaw et al. (2010);
2-
Cercomela sordida should be transferred to the monotypic genus
Pinarochroa Sundevall, 1872, as suggested by
Outlaw et al. (2010);
3- the genus
Thamnolaea Cabanis, 1850 should be retained for the species
cinnamomeiventris only while
T. semirufa should be included in the genus
Monticola following
Zuccon and Ericson (2010b);
4-
Myrmecocichla arnotti, M. collaris, M. melaena, M. nigra, M. formicivora, M. aethiops, M. tholloni and
Oenanthe monticola should be included in the same genus. Two generic names available for this taxon were established simultaneously:
Myrmecocichla Cabanis, 1850 (type species
Oenanthe formicivora Vieillot, 1818) and
Dromolaea Cabanis, 1850 (type species
Oenanthe monticola Vieillot, 1818). To our knowledge no precedence have ever been established between
Myrmecocichla and
Dromolaea, nor
Myrmecocichla formicivora and
Oenanthe monticola have ever been treated as congeneric under either generic names. In agreement with the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature for simultaneously published names (Art. 24, ICZN 1999) and acting as First Reviser, we select the genus name
Myrmecocichla Cabanis, 1850 to take precedence over
Dromolaea Cabanis, 1850. This choice assures nomenclatural stability since
Myrmecocichla has been consistently applied to the majority of species in this clade while
Dromolaea has only rarely been considered valid and it has been applied only to some
Oenanthe taxa;
5- we recommend, for the sake of nomenclatural stability, to apply the genus name
Oenanthe Vieillot, 1816 to all the species of the clades 3 and 4, including the former
Myrmecocichla albifrons, Cercomela melanura, C. familiari, C. scotocerca, C. dubia and
C. fusca. Alternatively should the clades 3 and 4 in Fig. 1 be found to deserve separate generic or subgeneric status, the valid names would be
Campicola Swainson, 1827 (type species
Motacilla pileata Gmelin, 1789) and
Oenanthe Vieillot, 1816 (type species
Turdus leucurus Gmelin, 1789), respectively.
