White-winged Black Tit
Encyclopedia
The White-winged Black Tit Parus leucomelas, also known as the White-winged Tit, is a passerine
bird
in the tit
family Paridae. It is found in central Africa
, from Angola
in the west to Ethiopia
in the east.
It is mainly black with a white wing patch, but differs from the more northern White-shouldered Tit
Parus guineensis with which it sometimes considered conspecific in that it has a dark eye.
It is sometimes separated in the genus
Melaniparus, which is a group of usually dark species from Africa
. Analysis of its mtDNA cytochrome b
sequence
(Gill et al., 2005) indicates that these birds may indeed form a clade
, but the interrelationships of the species between them and with the Parus sensu strictissimo ist not resolved enough at present; it appears however that separating Melaniparus as a genus and not just a subgenus
of Parus is unwarranted.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the tit
Titmouse
The tits, chickadees, and titmice constitute Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa...
family Paridae. It is found in central Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, from Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
in the west to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
in the east.
It is mainly black with a white wing patch, but differs from the more northern White-shouldered Tit
White-shouldered Tit
The White-shouldered Black Tit , also known as the White-shouldered Tit, is a passerine bird in the tit family. It breeds in a belt across Africa from Senegal in the west to Kenya and Ethiopia in the east...
Parus guineensis with which it sometimes considered conspecific in that it has a dark eye.
It is sometimes separated in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Melaniparus, which is a group of usually dark species from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Analysis of its mtDNA cytochrome b
Cytochrome b
Cytochrome b/b6 is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. In addition, it commonly refers to a region of mtDNA used for population genetics and phylogenetics.- Function :...
sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
(Gill et al., 2005) indicates that these birds may indeed form a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
, but the interrelationships of the species between them and with the Parus sensu strictissimo ist not resolved enough at present; it appears however that separating Melaniparus as a genus and not just a subgenus
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
of Parus is unwarranted.