The mourning sierra finch (''Rhopospina fruticeti'') is a species of South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Rhopospina''. It is found in Argentina,

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, Chile and Peru. It is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands and Brazil. 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 subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.

Taxonomy

The mourning sierra finch was formally described and illustrated in 1883 by the German naturalist Heinrich von Kittlitz under 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 ...

''Fringilla fruticeti''. This species was formerly included in the genus '' Phrygilus''. 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 ...

study published in 2014 found that ''Phrygilus'' was polyphyletic, and in the subsequent rearrangement, the mourning sierra finch was moved to the resurrected genus ''Rhopospina'' that had been introduced in 1851 by Jean Cabanis. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek ''rhōps'' meaning "bush" with ''spina'' meaning "finch". The specific epithet is from the Latin ''fruticetum'' meaning "thicket". Three

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: * ''R. f. peruviana'' ( Zimmer, JT, 1924) – Peru and west Bolivia * ''R. f. coracina'' ( Sclater, PL, 1891) – southwest Bolivia and northeast Chile * ''R. f. fruticeti'' (Kittlitz, 1833) – north to south Chile and west Argentina

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the mourning sierra finch
mourning sierra finch Birds of the Andes Birds of Patagonia mourning sierra finch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Heinrich von Kittlitz {{Thraupidae-stub