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Luscinia

File:Luscinia_svecica_volgae.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes.

OverviewAI-generated

Luscinia is a genus of birds within the family Muscicapidae. It belongs to the order Passeriformes, class Aves, and phylum Chordata in the kingdom Animalia. The genus is placed within the subfamily Saxicolinae. Its scientific name is Luscinia T.Forster, 1817, and it holds an accepted taxonomic status.

Records for this taxon are held by institutions including CAS, USNM, RBINS-SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE, GNM, and NHMUK. Specimens have been documented in China, Italy, Kenya, Germany, and Sweden. The habitat is listed as freshwater.

Synthesized by Vinony from 31 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Luscinia

GENUS

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassAves
  4. OrderPasseriformes
  5. FamilyMuscicapidae
Habitatfreshwater
Observations recorded2,974,282

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records
70
Family
Muscicapidae
Collections
CAS, USNM, RBINS-SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE, GNM, NHMUK, UBCBBM
Recorded in
China, Italy, Kenya, Germany, Sweden, Greece, United Kingdom, Ethiopia

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

5 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy and systematics
  • Description
  • Fossil record
  • References
  • Sources

Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes.

==Taxonomy and systematics== The word Luscinia was used for nightingales and similar birds in Classical Latin (e.g. in the AD 70s Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder), if not earlier. Etymologically, it might be derived from luscus (Latin for "half-blind", "half-understood" etc.) or clueō (Latin for "to be well-known") + (probably) Latin canō "to sing". Hence, it could be translated as "little-seen [as in the twilight] songster" or "famous songster". The genus Luscinia was introduced by the English naturalist Thomas Forster in 1817. The type species is the common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Luscinia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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