Symposiachrus is a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae. Most species are endemic to islands in Melanesia but the spectacled monarch is widely distributed and occurs in parts of Indonesia and western Australia. The genus was previously lumped together in the genus Monarcha.
Taxonomy and systematics
Based on the results of a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2005, the genus Monarcha was split and 19 species moved to the resurrected genus Symposiachrus that had been introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854 with the spectacled monarch (Symposiachrus trivirgatus) as the type species. The genus name Symposiachrus combines the Ancient Greek συν/sun meaning "together", ποσις/posis meaning "husband" and αχρως/akhrōs meaning "pallid".
The genus Symposiachrus contains the following 23 species:
References
Further reading
- Filardi, C.E., and R.G. Moyle. 2005. Single origin of a pan-Pacific bird group and upstream colonization of Australasia. Nature 438: 216–219.
- Mayr, E., and J. Diamond. 2001. The birds of northern Melanesia. Speciation, ecology, and biogeography. Oxford University Press.
