''Larvivora'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occur in central and eastern Asia. The species in this genus were all previously classified in other genera. A large

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 on 2010 found that the genera '' Luscinia'' and '' Erithacus'' as defined by Edward C. Dickinson in 2003 were not

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

. The genus ''Larvivora'' with the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

''Larvivora cyane'' was reinstated to accommodate a well-defined

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

. Although the rufous-headed robin was not included in the phylogenetic study, it was moved to the resurrected genus due to its structural, song and behavioural similarities with the Indian blue robin and the Siberian blue robin. The genus ''Larvivora'' had been introduced by the British naturalist

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer natural history, naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident (title), Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals fr ...

in 1837. The word ''Larvivora'' comes from the

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

''larva'' meaning caterpillar and ''-vorus'' meaning eating (''vorace'' to devour). The genus includes the following 8 species: * Indian blue robin, (''Larvivora brunnea'') (formerly in ''Luscinia'') * Siberian blue robin, (''Larvivora cyane'') (formerly in ''Luscinia'') * Rufous-tailed robin, (''Larvivora sibilans'') (formerly in ''Luscinia'') * Ryukyu robin, (''Larvivora komadori'') (formerly in ''Erithacus'') * Okinawa robin, (''Larvivora namiyei'') * Japanese robin, (''Larvivora akahige'') (formerly in ''Erithacus'') * Izu robin (''Larvivora tanensis'') (split from ''L. akahige'') * Rufous-headed robin, (''Larvivora ruficeps'') (formerly in ''Luscinia'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10784792 Bird genera Taxa named by Brian Houghton Hodgson