The Jamaican becard (''Pachyramphus niger'') is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. Its genus, '' Pachyramphus'', has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityridae.

Taxonomy

The Jamaican becard was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist

Johann Friedrich Gmelin , fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich GmelinFerdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , doctora ...

in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. He placed it with the shrikes in the genus '' Lanius'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Lanius niger''. Gmelin based his description on the "black shrike" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. Latham had received two specimens from Jamaica. The Jamaican becard is now one of 17 becards placed in the genus '' Pachyramphus'' that was introduced in 1839 by George Gray. The species is monotypic: no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised.

Distribution and habitat

It is endemic to Jamaica. Its natural habitats are

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

References

* Raffaele, Herbert; James Wiley, Orlando Garrido, Allan Keith & Janis Raffaele (2003) ''Birds of the West Indies'', Christopher Helm, London.

Jamaican becard The Jamaican becard (''Pachyramphus niger'') is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. Its genus, '' Pachyramphus'', has traditionally been placed in Cotingidae or Tyrannidae, but evidence strongly suggest it is better placed in Tityrida ...

Endemic birds of Jamaica

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Tityridae-stub