Myophonus

Taxonomy

The genus Myophonus was introduced in 1822 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck to accommodate a single species, Myophonus metallicus Temminck. This is a junior synonym of Turdus flavirostrisHorsfield, a subspecies of the blue whistling thrush which is therefore the type species. There has been confusion as to the correct spelling of the genus name. Temminck's work was published in 102 parts (livraisons) and Plate 170 with the associated text was included in Livraison 29 which was issued in December 1822. However, the assembled volumes included pages inserted before Plate 170 with the genus name spelled as Myiophoneus. These inserted pages cannot have been issued earlier than 1832. The genus name Myophonus is from the Ancient Greekmuia meaning "fly" and phoneus meaning "slayer".