Calamanthus

Calamanthus
Striated fieldwren (Calamanthus fuliginosus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acanthizidae
Genus: Calamanthus
Gould, 1838
Type species
Praticola anthoides Swainson, 1837=Anthus fuliginosus Vigors & Horsfield, 1827

Calamanthus is a genus of bird in the family Acanthizidae, consisting of three species, all endemic to Australia. These birds are commonly known as fieldwrens.

Taxonomy

The genus Calamanthus was introduced in 1838 by the English ornithologist John Gould as a replacement name for Praticola that had been introduced in 1837 by William Swainson to accommodate Praticola anthoides Swainson, a junior synonym of Anthus fuliginosus Vigors and Horsfield, the striated fieldwren. The name Praticola was pre-occupied as it had previous been introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek καλαμαια/kalamaia meaning "grasshopper" with the genus Anthus Bechstein, 1805.

A poorly researched genus, the alliance has been recognised as a single species treatment (Schodde, 1975) and later two species or provisionally three separate species. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names lists the following three species:

ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
rufous fieldwrenCalamanthus campestrisAustralia
striated fieldwrenCalamanthus fuliginosusAustralia
western fieldwrenCalamanthus montanellusAustralia

References

  1. ↑ "Acanthizidae". Howard & Moore Checklist Online. Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ↑ Gould, John (1838). A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London: self. Part 4, Appendix p. 4.
  3. ↑ Swainson, William (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds. Vol. 2. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman and John Taylor. p. 243.
  4. 1 2 Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 427.
  5. ↑ Kaup, Johann Jakob (1829). Skizzirte Entwickelungs-Geschichte und natürliches System der europäischen Thierwelt (in German). Darmstadt: Carl Wilhelm Leske. pp. 114, 191.
  6. ↑ Jobling, James A. "Calamanthus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  7. ↑ Christidis, Les; Boles, Walter E. (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Csiro Publishing. pp. 161–62. ISBN 978-0-643-06511-6.
  8. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Bristlebirds, pardalotes, Australasian warblers". World Bird List Version 9.1. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

Further reading

  • Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-84-96553-42-2