| Rufous vanga | |
|---|---|
_(2).jpg) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Vangidae |
| Genus: | Schetba Lesson, 1831 |
| Species: | S. rufa |
| Binomial name | |
| Schetba rufa | |
| Synonyms | |
Lanius rufusLinnaeus, 1766 | |
Therufous vanga (Schetba rufa) is a species ofbird in the familyVangidae. It ismonotypic within the genusSchetba.[2] It isendemic toMadagascar, where its naturalhabitats aresubtropical or tropical dry forest andsubtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.[1]
In 1760 the French zoologistMathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the rufous vanga in hisOrnithologie based on a specimen collected on the island ofMadagascar. He used the French nameLa pie-griesche rousse de Madagascar and the LatinLanius Madagascariensis rufus.[3] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to thebinomial system and are not recognised by theInternational Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.[4] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalistCarl Linnaeus updated hisSystema Naturae for thetwelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.[4] One of these was the rufous vanga. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined thebinomial nameLanius rufus and cited Brisson's work.[5] The rufous vanga is now the only species placed in thegenusSchetba that was introduced by the French naturalistRené Lesson in 1831.[6]
Twosubspecies are recognised:[7]
