Western Mountain Greenbul

SCI Name:  Arizelocichla tephrolaema
Protonym:  Trichophorus tephrolaemus Ann.Mag.Nat.Hist.(3), 10 p.444
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Pycnonotidae / Arizelocichla
Taxonomy Code:  wesmog1
Type Locality:  Cameroon Mt., 7,000 feet.
Author:  Gray, GR
Publish Year:  1862
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ARIZELOCICHLA
(Pycnonotidae; Ϯ Eastern Mountain Greenbul A. nigriceps) Gr. αριζηλος arizēlos  conspicuous, distinct; κιχλη kikhlē  thrush; "ARIZELOCICHLA ¹ gen. nov.   Chars. gen.—In some respects resembling Bleda, but nostrils linear, strongly operculate, the basal half of the operculum more or less featheredl; bill much shorter, more turdine, depressed at base, its height at this point decidedly more than one-third the length of exposed culmen; culmen curved from base; gonys almost horizontal; tarsus very much longer than exposed culmen.   ...   Type.—Xenocichla nigriceps SHELLEY.   ...   Excellent evidence of the hitherto unsatisfactory generic position of the type and several other species of this group is the manner in which various authors have treated them, placing them first in one genus, then in another, with scarcely any uniformity or agreement.  Least of all the genera to which they have been at times referred do they belong in Bleda; but find apparently their nearest ally in Chlorocichla, from which, however, they may be readily distinguished.   ...   ¹ αριζηλος, evidens; κιχλη, turdus." (Oberholser 1905); "Arizelocichla Oberholser, 1905, Smiths. Misc. Coll., Quarterly Issue, 48, no. 2, p. 163.  Type, by original designation, Xenocichla nigriceps Shelley." (Rand in Peters, 1960, IX, p. 225).

tephrolaema / tephrolaemus
Gr. τεφρος tephros  ash-coloured  < τεφρα tephra  ashes; λαιμος laimos  throat.

Tephrolaema
(syn. Anthreptes Ϯ Grey-chinned Sunbird A. tephrolaemus) Gr. τεφρος tephros  ash-coloured  < τεφρα tephra  ashes; λαιμος laimos  throat (cf. specific name Nectarinia tephrolaemus Jardine & Fraser, 1851); "Nectarinia tephrolaema Jard. Contrib. Orn. 1851 p. 154. - Hartl. Orn. Westafr. p. 51. 148. - Cassin p. 36. 44. - Anthodiaeta tephrolaema Rchb. Handb spec. Orn. p. 294. 689.  -  Die von Hartlaub a. a. O. als Weibchen beschriebenen Vögel hält Cassin für junge Männchen; nach ihm sind die Weibchen einfarbig dunkel aschgrau, unten etwas heller, oben dunkler gefärbt. Wohl mit Recht macht er Reichenbach den Vorwurf, diese durch ihre so ganz eigenthümlich, aschgraue breit goldgrün gesäumte Kehl-Färbung so ausgezeichnete Art zu Anthodiaeta gestellt zu haben; wir glauben desshalb in seinem Sinn zu handeln, wenn wir als Tephrolaema resplendens generisch zu sondern versuchen" (Heine 1860).

SUBSPECIES

Western Mountain Greenbul (bamendae)
SCI Name: Arizelocichla tephrolaema bamendae
bamendae
Bamenda, Bamenda Highlands, British Cameroons.

Western Mountain Greenbul (tephrolaema)
SCI Name: Arizelocichla tephrolaema tephrolaema
tephrolaema / tephrolaemus
Gr. τεφρος tephros  ash-coloured  < τεφρα tephra  ashes; λαιμος laimos  throat.