The genus was introduced by the French zoologist
Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the
spotted flycatcher (
Muscicapa striata) as the
type species. The word
Muscicapa comes from the
Latin musca, a fly and
capere, to catch. In 2010 two large
molecular phylogenetic studies of species within Muscicapidae showed that
Muscicapa was
non-monophyletic. The authors were unable to propose a revised genus as not all the species were sampled. A subsequent study published in 2016 included 37 of the 42 Muscicapini species. It confirmed that
Muscicapa was non-monophyletic and proposed a reorganised arrangement with several new or resurrected genera.
Extant species There are 17 extant
species of
Muscicapa flycatchers:
Extinct species There are at least three fossil species which are included in this genus: • †
Muscicapa leganyii (Middle Miocene of
Felsőtárkány, Hungary) • †
Muscicapa miklosi (Late Miocene of
Polgárdi, Hungary) • †
Muscicapa petenyii (Pliocene of
Beremend, Hungary) •
Australian golden whistler (as
Muscicapa pectoralis) •
New Caledonian whistler (as
Muscicapa caledonica) •
Rufous whistler (xanthetraea) (as
Muscicapa xanthetraea) •
Little shrikethrush (as
Muscicapa megarhyncha) •
Black-naped monarch (as
Muscicapa azurea) •
Blue-mantled crested flycatcher (as
Muscicapa cyanomelas) •
African paradise flycatcher (as
Muscicapa viridis) •
Mascarene paradise flycatcher (as
Muscicapa bourbonnensis) •
Hawaiʻi ʻelepaio (as
Muscicapa sandwichensis) •
Tahiti monarch (as
Muscicapa nigra) • †
Maupiti monarch (as
Muscicapa Pomarea) •
Chuuk monarch (as
Muscicapa Rugensis) •
Spot-winged monarch (as
Muscicapa guttula) •
Hooded monarch (as
Muscicapa manadensis) •
Island monarch (as
Muscicapa inornata) •
Black-faced monarch (as
Muscicapa melanopsis) •
Golden monarch (as
Muscicapa chrysomela) •
Frilled monarch (as
Muscicapa telescopthalmus) •
Shining flycatcher (chalybeocephala) (as
Muscicapa chalybeocephalus) •
Black-capped bulbul (as
Muscicapa melanictera) •
Light-vented bulbul (as
Muscicapa sinensis) •
Yellow-vented bulbul (as
Muscicapa goiavier) ==References==