Emarginata
Emarginata (bird)
Genus of birds
Emarginata is a genus of birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occur in southern Africa.
The three species in the genus were previously placed in the genus Cercomela. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that Cercomela was polyphyletic and that the type species Cercomela melanura (the blackstart) lay in a clade containing members of Oenanthe.[2] A more comprehensive study published in 2012 confirmed the earlier results.[3] In order to create monophyletic genera the species assigned to Cercomela were moved into other genera.[4] Three species were placed in the resurrected genus Emarginata that had been introduced by the English ornithologist George Ernest Shelley in 1896.[5]
The three species in the genus are:[4]
- Sickle-winged chat (Emarginata sinuata)
- Karoo chat (Emarginata schlegelii)
- Tractrac chat (Emarginata tractrac)