Pnoepyga is a genus of passerines endemic to southern and southeastern Asia. Its members are known as cupwings or wren-babblers. The genus contains four species. The genus has long been placed in the babbler family Timaliidae. A 2009 study of the DNA of the families Timaliidae and the Old World warblers (Sylviidae) found no support for the placement of the genus in either family, prompting the authors to erect a new monogeneric family, the Pnoepygidae.[2]

Pnoepyga
Scaly-breasted wren-babbler (Pnoepyga albiventer)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pnoepygidae
Gelang et al., 2009
Genus: Pnoepyga
Hodgson, 1844
Type species
Tesia albiventer[1]
Hodgson, 1837

This genus of diminutive passerines has a mostly montane distribution in South and Southeast Asia. The scaly-breasted cupwing is found in the mountainous areas of north India eastwards to southern China and northern Vietnam. The Taiwan cupwing is endemic to Taiwan, and similarly the Nepal cupwing has a restricted distribution, mostly occurring in Nepal (and also slightly into India). The most widespread species is the pygmy cupwing, which occurs from China and India south through Southeast Asia into the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia as far as Flores and Timor.[3]

Species

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The genus contains the following four species:[4]

Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution
  Scaly-breasted cupwing or scaly-breasted wren-babbler Pnoepyga albiventer (Hodgson, 1837) southern and eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Indochina.
  Taiwan cupwing or Taiwan wren-babbler Pnoepyga formosana Ingram, W, 1909 Taiwan
  Nepal cupwing or Nepal wren-babbler Pnoepyga immaculata Martens, J & Eck, 1991 Uttarakhand and Nepal.
  Pygmy cupwing or pygmy wren-babbler Pnoepyga pusilla Hodgson, 1845 Himalayas to the Lesser Sunda Islands.

References

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  1. ^ "Pnoepygidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. ^ Gelang, Magnus; Cibois, Alice; Pasquet, Eric; Olsson, Urban; Alström, Per; Ericson, Per G. P. (2009). "Phylogeny of babblers (Aves, Passeriformes): major lineages, family limits and classification". Zoologica Scripta. 38 (3): 225–236. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00374.x. S2CID 21691730.
  3. ^ Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 - 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Cupwings, crombecs, cettiid bush warblers, Streaked Scrub Warbler, yellow flycatchers, hylias". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 July 2021.