''Sturnia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s in the family Sturnidae. It is sometimes merged with ''

Sturnus ''Sturnus'' is a genus of starlings. As discussed below, the taxonomy of this group is complex, and other authorities differ considerably in which species they place in this genus, and in the species boundaries within ''Sturnus''. The genus name ...

''.Clements, J. (2007). ''The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World.'' 6th edition. Christopher Helm.

Species

The old genus' placement with the starlings was found to be polyphyletic, resulting in changes in the placement. A 2008 study places the following species within this genus:Zuccon, D., Pasquet, E. & Ericson, P. G. P. (2008). Phylogenetic relationships among Palearctic–Oriental starlings and mynas (genera Sturnus and Acridotheres : Sturnidae). Zoologica Scripta, 37:469–48
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Extant species

Former taxonomic treatments have included: *

White-faced starling The white-faced starling (''Sturnornis albofrontatus'') is a member of the starling family of birds. It is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. It was for a long time erroneously known as ''S. senex''; this was eventually identified as a ...

, ''Sturnia albofrontata''. *

Daurian starling The Daurian starling (''Agropsar sturninus''), or purple-backed starling, is a species of bird in the starling family found in the eastern Palearctic from eastern Mongolia and southeastern Russia to North Korea and central China. Taxonomy and ...

, ''Sturnia sturnina''. * Chestnut-cheeked starling, ''Sturnia philippensis''. If the first of these is included, it seems highly warranted to include in ''Sturnia'' also the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genera ''

Leucopsar The Bali myna (''Leucopsar rothschildi''), also known as Rothschild's mynah, Bali starling, or Bali mynah, locally known as jalak Bali, is a medium-sized (up to long), stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black ti ...

'' (Bali myna) and ''

Fregilupus The hoopoe starling (''Fregilupus varius''), also known as the Réunion starling or Bourbon crested starling, is a species of starling that lived on the Mascarene island of Réunion and became extinct in the 1850s. Its closest relatives were ...

'' (hoopoe starling), and perhaps the enigmatic ''

Necropsar The Rodrigues starling (''Necropsar rodericanus'') is an extinct species of starling that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues. Its closest relatives were the Mauritius starling and the hoopoe starling from nearby islands; all th ...

'' (Rodrigues starling). On the other hand, if these distinct genera are maintained, the white-faced starling would then receive its own genus, ''Sturnornis''. The other two would better be dealt with by resurrecting ''Agropsar'', either as a distinct genus or as a subgenus of ''Gracupica'', which otherwise includes the black-collared starling (''"Sturnus" nigricollis'') and

pied myna Pied myna has been split into three species: * Indian pied myna, ''Gracupica contra'' * Siamese pied myna, ''Gracupica floweri'' * Javan pied myna The Javan pied myna (''Gracupica jalla'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. Its ...

s (''"Gracupica sp." ''); these four form a robust and ancient group of two

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

that is perhaps even closer to the

wattled starling The wattled starling (''Creatophora cinerea'') is a nomadic resident bird in eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of grassland, open woodland, and cultivation. This is the only African starling that appears to show affinities with the A ...

(''Creatophpora cinerea'') than to the actual genus ''Sturnus''. Their similarity to ''Sturnia'' proper is probably simply a symplesiomorphy.

References

Sturnidae Bird genera Taxa named by René Lesson {{sturnidae-stub