Large Woodshrike
Encyclopedia
The Large Woodshrike is a species
in the helmetshrike family
Prionopidae. The woodshrikes were formerly placed in the Campephagidae (cuckooshrikes) sometimes.
It is found in Bangladesh
, Bhutan
, Brunei
, Cambodia
, China
, India
, Indonesia
, Laos
, Malaysia, Myanmar
, Nepal
, Singapore
, Thailand
, and Vietnam
. Its natural habitat
s are temperate forest
s, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The subspecies
in south-west India is sometimes considered a separate species, the Malabar Woodshrike (T. sylvicola).
SCIENTIFIC NAME
The name Lanius gularis was described by Raffles in 1822 (Transactions of the Linnean Society). At about the same time (1824), Temminck published the name Lanius virgatus in his Planches Coloriees (pl. 256, f.1). These, among other related forms, were later placed in the genus Tephrodornis and each recognized as valid species. Richard Bowdler Sharpe (Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, vol. III, p. 278) retained both as valid, and this treatment perpetuated as recently as 1981 (Smythies, Birds of Borneo).
Further review determined that both gularis and virgatus should be recognized as one species, with the former name designated as the nominate. Dickinson and Dekker discussed the homonymy of Raffles' name, and on the premise that it was unavailable, supplanted it with Temminck's name as the authority. A more obscure Lanius gularis was published in Bechstein (Kurze Uebersicht aller bekannten Vögel oder ihre kennzeichen der Art nach Latham’s General Synopsis of Birds und seinem Index ornithologicus, (1811)), eleven years prior to Raffles.
Since the discovery of the homonymy in 2002, the name virgatus seems to have prevailed as the correct name for the large wood-shrike. However, the action to replace gularis was not justified. In the fourth edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) certain provisions were modified, including the adoption of "reversal of precedence." Article 23. 1 stipulates that priority in scientific names applies to "..the relative precedence of homonyms," among other conditions, and Article 23.9 details the "reversal of precendence," which requires that a substitution or replacement name be adopted if, among other conditions, "the senior synonym or homonym has not been used as a valid name after 1899." Since the discovery of the homonymy was published subsequent to the fourth edition of the Code, these requirements would need to be met prior to making such a change. Bechstein's name (the senior homonym) being so obscure—having only been cited once prior to Dickinson and Dekker (Index Animalium of Sherborn (and its corresponding reverse index volume)--that the act to adopt virgatus was done on insufficient grounds. Further, it is uncertain as to which species Bechstein's name should be indicated as a synonym of. Therefore, the correct name of the large wood-shrike is Tephrodornis gularis.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in the helmetshrike family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Prionopidae. The woodshrikes were formerly placed in the Campephagidae (cuckooshrikes) sometimes.
It is found in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Malaysia, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Its natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s are temperate forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
in south-west India is sometimes considered a separate species, the Malabar Woodshrike (T. sylvicola).
SCIENTIFIC NAME
The name Lanius gularis was described by Raffles in 1822 (Transactions of the Linnean Society). At about the same time (1824), Temminck published the name Lanius virgatus in his Planches Coloriees (pl. 256, f.1). These, among other related forms, were later placed in the genus Tephrodornis and each recognized as valid species. Richard Bowdler Sharpe (Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, vol. III, p. 278) retained both as valid, and this treatment perpetuated as recently as 1981 (Smythies, Birds of Borneo).
Further review determined that both gularis and virgatus should be recognized as one species, with the former name designated as the nominate. Dickinson and Dekker discussed the homonymy of Raffles' name, and on the premise that it was unavailable, supplanted it with Temminck's name as the authority. A more obscure Lanius gularis was published in Bechstein (Kurze Uebersicht aller bekannten Vögel oder ihre kennzeichen der Art nach Latham’s General Synopsis of Birds und seinem Index ornithologicus, (1811)), eleven years prior to Raffles.
Since the discovery of the homonymy in 2002, the name virgatus seems to have prevailed as the correct name for the large wood-shrike. However, the action to replace gularis was not justified. In the fourth edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) certain provisions were modified, including the adoption of "reversal of precedence." Article 23. 1 stipulates that priority in scientific names applies to "..the relative precedence of homonyms," among other conditions, and Article 23.9 details the "reversal of precendence," which requires that a substitution or replacement name be adopted if, among other conditions, "the senior synonym or homonym has not been used as a valid name after 1899." Since the discovery of the homonymy was published subsequent to the fourth edition of the Code, these requirements would need to be met prior to making such a change. Bechstein's name (the senior homonym) being so obscure—having only been cited once prior to Dickinson and Dekker (Index Animalium of Sherborn (and its corresponding reverse index volume)--that the act to adopt virgatus was done on insufficient grounds. Further, it is uncertain as to which species Bechstein's name should be indicated as a synonym of. Therefore, the correct name of the large wood-shrike is Tephrodornis gularis.