''Kempiella'' 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 birds in the Australasian robin family
Petroicidae
The bird family Petroicidae includes 51 species in 19 genera. All are endemic to Australasia: New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and numerous Pacific Islands as far east as Samoa. For want of an accurate common name, the family is often called th ...
that are found in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
.
The genus was introduced by the Australian ornithologist
Gregory Mathews
Gregory Macalister Mathews CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England.
Life
He was born in Biamble in New South Wales the son of Robert H. M ...
in 1913 with the
yellow-legged flyrobin (''Kempiella griseoceps'') as 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 ...
. The two species in this genus were formerly placed in genus ''
Microeca
''Microeca'' is a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. The species in this genus are commonly known as flyrobins (along with the closely related torrent flyrobin).
Species
The genus contains three species:
Se ...
''. They were moved to the resurrected genus ''Kempiella'' based on the results of a
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 in 2011.
Species
The genus contains the following two species:
*
Yellow-legged flyrobin (''Kempiella griseoceps'')
*
Olive flyrobin (''Kempiella flavovirescens'')
References
Bird genera
Birds of New Guinea
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