The grey tit (''Melaniparus afer'') is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae. It is found in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

and South Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. The grey tit was formerly one of the many species in the genus '' Parus'' but was moved to ''

Melaniparus ''Melaniparus'' is a genus of birds in the tit family. The species were formerly placed in the speciose genus ''Parus'' but were moved to ''Melaniparus'' based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis published in 2013 that showed that the members fo ...

'' after a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis published in 2013 showed that the members of the new genus formed a distinct

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

References

External links

* (Southern) grey tit
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
grey tit Birds of Southern Africa grey tit grey tit Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Paridae-stub