The long-billed bernieria (''Bernieria madagascariensis''), formerly known as long-billed greenbul and sometimes as common tetraka or long-billed tetraka, is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Bernieria''. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Taxonomy

In 1760 the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosophy, natural philosopher. Brisson was born on 30 April 1723 at Fontenay-le-Comte in the Vendée department of western France. Note that page 14 ...

included a description and an illustration of the long-billed bernieria in the third volume of his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected on the island of

. He used the French name ''Le grand figuier de Madagascar'' and the Latin name ''Ficedula Madagascariensis Major''. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the

binomial system The binomial system () is a voting system that was used in the legislative elections of Chile between 1989 and 2013. The binomial system is the D'Hondt method with an open list where ''every'' constituency returns ''two'' (hence the name) rep ...

and are not recognised by the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

. When in 1789 the German naturalist

Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...

revised and expanded

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

's ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...

'' he included the long-billed bernieria based on Brisson's description. He placed it with the flycatchers in the

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 ...

Muscicapa ''Muscicapa'' is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, and therein to the typical flycatchers of subfamily Muscicapinae. They are widespread across Europe, Africa and Asia with most species occurri ...

'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Muscicapa madagascariensis''. The long-billed bernieria is now the only species placed in the genus ''Bernieria'' that was erected in 1855 by the French zoologist

Jacques Pucheran Jacques Pucheran (2 June 1817 – 13 January 1895) was a French zoologist born in Clairac. He was a grandnephew to physiologist Étienne Serres (1786-1868). Pucheran accompanied the expedition on the ''Astrolabe'' between 1837 and 1840, under th ...

. The genus name honours the French surgeon-naturalist Chevalier J. A. Bernier who resided in Madagascar from 1831 to 1834. Two subspecies are recognised. * ''B. m. madagascariensis'' ( Gmelin, JF, 1789) – east Madagascar * ''B. m. incelebris''

Bangs Bang, bang!, or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a List of model car brands, model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Central African ...

& Peters, JL, 1926 – north, west Madagascar It was initially considered a

greenbul The greenbuls are a group of birds within the bulbul family Pycnonotidae, found only within Africa. They are all largely drab olive-green above, and paler below, with few distinguishing features. The "aberrant greenbuls" of the genera '' Bernier ...

, and later with the

Old World warbler The Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxo ...

s. Recent research indicates it is part of the endemic Malagasy radiation

Bernieridae The tetrakas, also known as the Malagasy warblers, are a recently validated family of songbirds. They were formally named Bernieridae in 2010. The family currently consists of eleven species (in eight genera) of small forest birds. These birds ...

(

Malagasy warbler The tetrakas, also known as the Malagasy warblers, are a recently validated family of songbirds. They were formally named Bernieridae in 2010. The family currently consists of eleven species (in eight genera) of small forest birds. These birds ...

s). Its presumed relatives are not as closely related as was once believed and have been restored to the old genus ''

Xanthomixis ''Xanthomixis'' is a genus of birds in the Malagasy warbler family, Bernieridae The tetrakas, also known as the Malagasy warblers, are a recently validated family of songbirds. They were formally named Bernieridae in 2010. The family curre ...

''.

Description

The long-billed bernieria is a slender species with an overall length of . The top of the head, the upperparts and the tail are brownish green, the underparts are mainly yellow. The bill is long and thin; the upper mandible has a small terminal hook.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q614490 Malagasy warblers Birds described in 1789 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin Taxonomy articles created by Polbot