Phylogenetic placement: Passeri: Passerides: Muscicapida: Muscicapoidea

Distribution: Africa, Eurasia, North America

Number of extant genera: ~51

Number of extant species: ~304

References

Alström P, Song G, Zhang R, Gao X, Holt PI, Olsson U, and Lei F (2013), Taxonomic status of Blackthroat Calliope obscura and Firethroat C. pectardens, Forktail 29, 94-99. (pdf)

Alström P, Rasmussen PC, Xia C, Gelang M, Liu Y, Chen G, Zhao M, Hao Y, Zhao C, Zhao J, Yao C, Eaton JA, Hutchinson R, Lei F, and Olsson U (2018), Taxonomy of the White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana) complex on mainland Asia and Taiwan: an integrative approach supports recognition of three instead of one species, Avian Res. 9, e:34. (free pdf)

Beresford P (2003), Molecular systematics of Alethe, Sheppardia and some other African robins (Muscicapoidea), Ostrich 74, 58-73. (abstract)

Cibois A, and Cracraft J (2004), Assessing the passerine "Tapestry": phylogenetic relationships of the Muscicapoidea inferred from nuclear DNA sequences, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 32, 264-273. (abstract)

Garg KM, Yin Gwee C, Chattopadhyay B, Ng NS, Prawiradilaga DM, David G, Fuchs J, Le Manh H, Martinez J, Olsson U, Tan Tu V, Chhin S, Alström P,  Lei F, and Rheindt FE (2024), When colors mislead: Genomics and bioacoustics prompt reclassification of Asian flycatcher radiation (Aves: Niltavinae), Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 193, e:107999. (journal abstract) (author pdf)

Kuhl H, Frankl-Vilches C, Bakker A, Mayr G, Nikolaus G, Boerno ST, Klages S, Timmermann B, and Gahr M (2021), An unbiased molecular approach using 3'UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life, Mol. Biol. Evol. 38, 108-127. (free pdf)

Liu Y, Chen G, Huang Q, Jia C, Carey G, Leader P, Li Y, Zou F, Yang X, Olsson U, and Alström P (2016), Species delimitation of the white-tailed rubythroat Calliope pectoralis complex (Aves, Muscicapidae) using an integrative taxonomic approach, J. Avian Biol. 47, 899-910. (free reading)

Moyle RG, Oliveros CH, Andersen MJ, Hosner PA, Benz BW, Manthey JD, Travers SL, Brown RM, and Faircloth BC (2016), Tectonic collision and uplift of Wallacea triggered the global songbird radiation, Nat. Commun. 7, e:12709. (free pdf)

Oliveros CH, Field DJ, Ksepka DT, Barker KF, Aleixo A, Andersen MJ, Alström P, Benz BW, Braun EL, Braun MJ, Bravo GA, Brumfield RT, Chesser RT, Claramunt S, Cracraft J, Cuervo AM, Derryberry EP, Glenn TC, Harvey MG, Hosner PA, Joseph L, Kimball RT, Mack AL, Miskelly CM, Peterson AT, Robbins MB, Sheldon FH, Silveira LF, Smith BT, White ND, Moyle RG, and Faircloth BC (2019), Earth history and the passerine superradiation, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 116, 7915-25. (pdf) 

Robin VV, Vishnudas CK, Gupta P, Rheindt FE, Hooper DM, Ramakrishnan U, and Reddy S (2017), Two new genera of songbirds represent endemic radiations from the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats, India, BMC Evol. Biol. 17, e:31. (free pdf)

Sangster G, Alström P, Forsmark E, and Olsson U (2010), Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae), Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 57, 380-392. (abstract)

Sangster G, Alström P, Forsmark E, and Olsson U (2016), Niltavinae, a new taxon of Old World flycatchers (Aves: Muscicapidae), Zootaxa 4196, 428-429 (pdf)

Sangster G, Alström P, Gaudin J, and Olsson U (2021), A new genus for the White-tailed Flycatcher Cyornis concretus (Aves: Muscicapidae), Zootaxa 5072, 599-600. (no abstract available) (link)

Stiller J, Feng S, Chowdhury AA, Rivas-González I, Duchêne DA, Fang Q, Deng Y, Kozlov A, Stamatakis A, Claramunt S, Nguyen JMT, Ho SYW, Faircloth BC, Haag J, Houde P, Cracraft J, Balaban M, Mai U, Chen G, Gao R, Zhou C, Xie Y, Huang Z, Cao Z, Yan Z, Ogilvie HA, Nakhleh L, Lindow B, Morel B, Fjeldså J, Hosner PA, da Fonseca RR, Petersen B, Tobias JA, Székely T, Kennedy JD, Reeve AH, Liker A, Stervander M, Antunes A, Tietze DT, Bertelsen M, Lei F, Rahbek C, Graves GR, Schierup MH, Warnow T, Braun EL, Gilbert MTP, Jarvis ED, Mirarab S, and Zhang G (2024), Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes, Nature (view pdf)

Voelker G, and Spellman GM (2004), Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA evidence of polyphyly in the avian superfamily Muscicapoidea, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 30, 386-394. (abstract)

Voelker G, Huntley JW, Peñalba JW, and Bowie RCK (2016), Resolving taxonomic uncertainty and historical biogeographic patterns in Muscicapa flycatchers and their allies, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 94, 618-625. (abstract)

Wei C, Sangster G, Olsson U, Rasmussen PC, Svensson L, Yao CT, Carey GJ, Leader PJ, Zhang R, Chen G, Song G, Lei F, Wilcove DS, Alström P, and Liu Y (2022), Cryptic species in a colorful genus: Integrative taxonomy of the bush robins (Aves, Muscicapidae, Tarsiger) suggests two overlooked species, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 175, e:107580. (free reading)

Zhao M, Gordon Burleigh J, Olsson U, Alström P, and Kimball RT (2023), A near-complete and time-calibrated phylogeny of the Old World flycatchers, robins and chats (Aves, Muscicapidae), Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 178, e:107646. (free reading)

Zuccon D, Cibois A, Pasquet E, and Ericson PGP (2006), Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data reveal the major lineages of starlings, mynas and related taxa, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 41, 333-344. (abstract)

Zuccon D, and Ericson PGP (2010), A multi-gene phylogeny disentangles the chat-flycatcher complex (Aves: Muscicapidae), Zool. Scr. 39, 213-224. (abstract)