Mekong Wagtail / Motacilla samveasnae
WBN 
Mekong Wagtail
SCI Name:
Protonym: Motacilla samveasnae Bull.Br.Orn.Club 121 p.154-182 pl.1,2 fig.1-6
Taxonomy: Passeriformes / Motacillidae / Motacilla
Taxonomy Code: mekwag1
Type Locality:
Author: Duckworth, JW, Alstrom, Davidson, P, Evans, TD, Poole, CM, Setha, T & Timmins, RJ
Publish Year: 2001
IUCN Status: Near Threatened
DEFINITIONS
MOTACILLA
(Motacillidae; Ϯ White Wagtail M. alba) Late Med. L. (1555) motacilla pied wagtail < L. motacilla wagtail < Gr. μυττηξ muttēx type of bird mentioned by Hesychius. The mistaken use of -cilla for “tail” in ornithology goes back to mediaeval writers who misread motacilla, Varro’s name for the wagtail ("quod semper movet caudam") and a diminutive from motare to move about or shake (i.e. a little shaker or wagger), as “shaketail”; "99. MOTACILLA. Rostrum subulatum, rectum: Mandibulis subæqualibus. Nares obovatæ. Lingua lacero-emarginata." (Linnaeus 1758);"Motacilla Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, p. 184. Type, by tautonymy, "Motacilla" = M. alba Linnaeus." (Vaurie in Peters 1960, IX, 130). Linnaeus's Motacilla comprised thirty-four species (M. Luscinia, M. Calidris, M. modularis, M. Schœnobænus, M. campestris, M. Curruca, M. Hippolais, M. Salicaria, M. Sylvia, M. Philomela, M. Ficedula, M. alba, M. flava, M. Tiphia, M. Ruticilla, M. hispanica, M. Oenanthe, M. Rubetra, M. Atricapilla, M. Emeria, M. Phœnicurus, M. Erithacus, M. Titys, M. svecica, M. Sialis, M. Velia, M. Spiza, M. Rubecula, M. Troglodytes, M. Regulus, M. Trochilus, M. Acredula, M. Pendulinus, M. minuta). The White Wagtail has a wide range in the Palaearctic, although several subspecies are sometimes treated specifically (e.g. yarrellii, subpersonata, personata, lugens).
Var. Matacilla, Metacilla, Motacilea, Motacitta, Mottacilla, Montacilla, Notacilla, Notorcilla.
Synon. Aguimpia, Atolmodytes, Boarula, Budytes, Calobates, Pallenura, Pecula, Psomophilus, Seisura.
motacilla
L. motacilla wagtail < Gr. μυττηξ muttēx type of bird mentioned by Hesychius (subsp. Myiothlypis fulvicauda, Parkesia).
samveasnae
Sam Veasna (1966-1999) Cambodian field ornithologist, conservationist (Motacilla).
UPPERCASE: current genus
Uppercase first letter: generic synonym
● and ● See: generic homonyms
lowercase: species and subspecies
●: early names, variants, mispellings
‡: extinct
†: type species
Gr.: ancient Greek
L.: Latin
<: derived from
syn: synonym of
/: separates historical and modern geographic names
ex: based on
TL: type locality
OD: original diagnosis (genus) or original description (species)
