Chamaetylas
| Chamaetylas | |
|---|---|
| Brown-chested alethe, Chamaetylas poliocephala | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Chamaetylas Heine, 1860 |
| Type species | |
| Geocichla compsonota Cassin, 1859 | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pseudalethe | |
Chamaetylas is a genus of small, mainly insectivorous birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that are native to sub-Saharan Africa.
The genus was introduced by the German ornithologist Ferdinand Heine in 1860 with the type species as Geocichla compsonota Cassin, 1859, now a subspecies of the brown-chested alethe. Species in the genus were previously assigned to the genus Alethe which was included in the thrush family Turdidae. In 2010 two separate molecular phylogenetic studies found that Alethe was polyphyletic and that the members of both clades were better placed in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
The genus contains four species:
| Image | Common Name | Scientific Name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | Red-throated alethe | Chamaetylas poliophrys | Albertine Rift montane forests |
| - | Brown-chested alethe | Chamaetylas poliocephala | African tropical rainforest |
| - | White-chested alethe | Chamaetylas fuelleborni | Tanzania, northern Malawi and central Mozambique |
| Thyolo alethe | Chamaetylas choloensis | southern Malawi and northern Mozambique | |
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