| African red-rumped swallow | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Hirundinidae |
| Genus: | Cecropis |
| Species: | C. melanocrissus |
| Binomial name | |
| Cecropis melanocrissus Rüppell, 1845 | |
TheAfrican red-rumped swallow (Cecropis melanocrissus) is smallpasserine bird in the swallow familyHirundinidae. It is found in northern areas of Africa south of the Sahara.
The African red-rumped swallow wasformally described and illustrated in 1845 by the German naturalistEduard Rüppell based on a specimen collected in theTembien region of northern Ethiopia. He coined thebinomial nameCecropis melanocrissus where the specific epithet combines theLatinmelas,melanos meaning "black" withModern Latincrissum meaning "vent".[1][2][3]
Foursubspecies are recognised:[4]
The subspeciesdomicella was formerly treated as a separate species, the West African swallow. The subspeciesmelanocrissus,kumboensis andemini were formerly placed in the red-rumped swallow complex. The taxa were re-arranged based mainly on differences in morphology. As part of the rearrangement the red-rumped swallow complex was split into theEuropean red-rumped swallow and theeastern red-rumped swallow.[4]
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