Acanthizidae

Atherton scrubwren Sericornis keri, photographed by Michael Rosenberg.

Belongs within: Meliphagoidea.
Contains: Gerygone, Acanthiza.

The Acanthizidae include the Australo-Papuan warblers, a group of small, generally dull-coloured birds. Most species have short rounded wings and a fairly short tail; terrestrial species have relatively strong legs and feet (Internet Bird Collection).

Characters (from Norman et al. 2009): Skull with dorsal-most point of profile roughly level with caudal border of orbit; lateral profile of top of skull with strongly marked slope from apex to nasofrontal hinge, profile thus lacking horizontal component to the dorsal surface; humerus not extending far distally relative to position of fossa pneumotricipitalis, crista deltopectoralis deflected cranially ; tarsometatarsus with trochleae II and IV both ≤50% of width of trochlea III, trochlea II projecting outwards slightly at base then straightening over distal length to be parallel with medial border, trochlea IV straight and confluent with lateral border, incisurae trochlearis lateralis and medialis both of about equal depth.

<==Acanthizidae [Acanthizinae]
    |--Oreoscopus gutturalis JT12
    `--+--Gerygone JT12
       `--+--+--Acanthiza JT12
          |  `--+--Acanthornis magna JT12
          |     `--Aphelocephala Oberholser 1899 JT12, B94 [Aphelocephalinae]
          |          |--A. leucopsis (Gould 1840) [=Xerophila leucopsis] WS48
          |          |    |--A. l. leucopsis [incl. A. l. whitei] M03
          |          |    `--A. l. castaneiventris (Milligan 1903) (see below for synonymy) WS48
          |          |--A. nigricincta (North 1895) [=Xerophila nigricincta] WS48
          |          `--A. pectoralis M03
          `--+--Smicrornis brevirostris (Gould 1838) JT12, WS48 [=Psilopus brevirostris WS48]
             |    |--S. b. brevirostris M03
             |    |--S. b. flavescens Gould 1842 [incl. S. b. mungi Mathews 1912, S. b. rogersi Mathews 1912] WS48
             |    |--S. b. occidentalis Sharpe 1879 [incl. S. brevirostris stirlingi Mathews 1912] WS48
             |    `--S. b. ochrogaster M03
             `--+--+--+--Pycnoptilus floccosus JT12
                |  |  `--+--Chthonicola sagittatus JT12
                |  |     `--Pyrrholaemus brunneus Gould 1840 JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
                |  `--+--Hylacola JT12
                |     |    |--H. cauta Gould 1842 JT12, WS48
                |     |    |    |--H. c. cauta M03 (see below for synonymy)
                |     |    |    |--H. c. halmaturinus M03
                |     |    |    `--H. c. macrorhynchus M03
                |     |    `--H. pyrrhopygia (Vigors & Horsfield 1827) [=Acanthiza pyrrhopygia] WS48
                |     `--Calamanthus JT12
                |          |--C. campestris (Gould 1840) [=Praticola campestris] WS48
                |          |    |--C. c. campestris WS48
                |          |    `--C. c. isabellinus North 1896 (see below for synonymy) WS48
                |          `--C. fuliginosus (Vigors & Horsfield 1827) [=Anthus fuliginosus] WS48
                |               |--C. f. fuliginosus WS48
                |               `--C. f. montanellus Milligan 1903 (see below for synonymy) WS48
                `--+--+--‘Sericornis’ citreogularis JT12
                   |  |    |--S. c. citreogularis M03
                   |  |    |--S. c. cairnsi M03
                   |  |    `--S. c. intermedius M03
                   |  `--+--Origma solitaria JT12
                   |     `--Crateroscelis JT12
                   |          |--C. murina JT12
                   |          |--C. nigrorufa JT12
                   |          `--C. robusta JT12
                   `--Sericornis Gould 1838 JT12, B94 [Sericornithinae]
                        |  i. s.: S. arfakianus JT12
                        |         S. beccarii M03
                        |           |--S. b. beccarii [=S. magnirostris beccarii] M03
                        |           |--S. b. dubius [=S. magnirostris dubius] M03
                        |           `--S. b. minimus M03
                        |         S. cautus SJ85
                        |         S. fuliginosus SJ85
                        |         S. humilis [=S. frontalis humilis] M03
                        |         S. maculatus Gould 1847 WS48 (see below for synonymy)
                        |         S. magnus G68
                        |         S. rufescens JT12
                        |         S. spilodera JT12
                        |         S. virgatus JT12
                        |--+--S. papuensis JT12
                        |  `--S. perspicillatus JT12
                        `--+--+--S. frontalis JT12
                           |  |    |--S. f. frontalis M03
                           |  |    |--S. f. ashbyi M03
                           |  |    |--S. f. flindersi M03
                           |  |    |--S. f. laevigaster M03
                           |  |    |--S. f. mellori M03
                           |  |    |--S. f. rosinae M03
                           |  |    |--S. f. tregellasi M03
                           |  |    `--S. f. tweedi M03
                           |  `--S. keri JT12
                           `--+--S. magnirostra JT12
                              |    |--S. m. magnirostra M03
                              |    |--S. m. howei M03
                              |    `--S. m. viridior M03
                              `--S. nouhuysi JT12

Aphelocephala leucopsis castaneiventris (Milligan 1903) [=Xerophila castaneiventris; incl. A. castaneiventris minilya Mathews 1920] WS48

Calamanthus campestris isabellinus North 1896 [incl. C. campestris peroni Mathews 1917, C. rubiginosus Campbell 1899, C. campestris wayensis Mathews 1912] WS48

Calamanthus fuliginosus montanellus Milligan 1903 [incl. C. montanellus ashbyi Mathews 1922, C. fuliginosus carteri Mathews 1912, C. campestris dorrie Mathews 1912, C. campestris hartogi Carter 1916, C. montanellus leakei Mathews 1922] WS48

Hylacola cauta cauta Gould 1842 M03, WS48 [=H. pyrrhopygia cauta WS48; incl. H. pyrrhopygia whitlocki Mathews 1912 WS48, H. cauta whitlocki M03]

Pyrrholaemus brunneus Gould 1840 JT12, WS48 [incl. P. brunneus kalgoorlie Mathews 1922 WS48, P. brunneus milligani Mathews 1922 WS48, Sericornis brunnea pallescens Mathews 1912 WS48]

Sericornis maculatus Gould 1847 WS48 [=S. frontalis maculatus M03; incl. S. balstoni Ogilvie-Grant 1909 WS48, S. frontalis balstoni M03, S. maculata condoni Mathews 1942 WS48, S. maculatus fuscipes Alexander 1922 WS48, S. maculatus geraldtonensis Mellor 1921 WS48, S. maculatus hartogi Carter 1916 WS48, S. maculatus houtmanensis Zietz 1921 WS48, S. maculata mondraini Mathews 1942 WS48, S. maculatus warreni Mathews 1912 WS48]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281.

[G68] Grant, P. R. 1968. Bill size, body size, and the ecological adaptations of bird species to competitive situations on islands. Systematic Zoology 17 (3): 319-333.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444-448.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds, 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

Norman, J. A., W. E. Boles & L. Christidis. 2009. Relationships of the New Guinean songbird genera Amalocichla and Pachycare based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Journal of Avian Biology 40 (6): 640-645.

[SJ85] Storr, G. M., & R. E. Johnstone. 1985. Field Guide to the Birds of Western Australia 2^nd ed. Western Australian Museum: Perth (Australia).

[WS48] Whittell, H. M. & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1-126.