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Animal Database
Bernieridae
Madagascar Part 1 North 847 Large
Long-billed Bernieria (Bernieria madagascariensis)
Scientific Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Aves
Order Passeriformes
Family Bernieridae

Bernieridae or Malagasy warbler, is a newly validated genus of songbirds. They were formally named Bernieridae in 2010. The family currently consists of eleven species of small forest birds. These birds are all endemic to Madagascar.

The monophyly of this group has been proposed as early as 1934 (Salomonsen 1934). But the traditional assignments of these birds were maintained, mistaken by their convergent evolution and the lack of dedicated research. The families to which the Malagasy warblers were formerly assigned—Pycnonotidae (bulbuls) but especially Timaliidae (Old World babblers) and the Old World warbler—were used as "wastebin taxa", uniting unrelated lineages that were somewhat similar ecologically and morphologically.

It was not until the analysis of mtDNA cytochrome b and 16S rRNA (Cibois et al. 1999, 2001) as well as nDNA RAG-1 and RAG-2 exon (Beresford et al. 2005) sequence data, that the long-proposed grouping was accepted.

Species[]

Several of these species are very poorly known and were described by science only very recently. Appert's tetraka was only described in 1972 and the cryptic warbler in 1996. The Appert's tetraka, along with the dusky tetraka are threatened by habitat loss, and are listed as vulnerable.

Most Malagasy warblers live in the humid rainforests in the east of Madagascar, though a few species are found in the drier south west of the island. They feed on insects and will form mixed-species feeding flocks of up to six species while foraging.

Formerly in Pycnonotidae (bulbuls)
Genus: Bernieria (formerly in Phyllastrephus)
 Long-billed Bernieria (Gmelin, 1789) (Bernieria madagascariensis)
Genus: Xanthomixis (formerly in Phyllastrephus; possibly polyphyletic)
 Appert's Tetraka (Colston, 1972) (Xanthomixis apperti)
 Grey-crowned Tetraka (Sharpe, 1881) (Xanthomixis cinereiceps)
 Appert's Tetraka (Stresemann, 1925) (Xanthomixis tenebrosa)
 Spectacled Tetraka (Sharpe, 1875) (Xanthomixis zosterops)
Formerly in Sylviidae (Old World warblers)
Genus: Thamnornis
 Thamnornis (Grandidier, 1867) (Thamnornis chloropetoides)
Genus: Cryptosylvicola
 Cryptic Warbler (Goodman, Langrand & Whitney, 1996) (Cryptosylvicola randriansoloi)
Formerly in Timaliidae (Old World babblers)
Genus: Hartertula (formerly in Neomixis)
 Wedge-tailed Jery (Hartet, 1924) (Hartertula flavoviridis)
Genus: Crossleyia
 Madagascan Yellowbrow (Gmelin, 1789) (Crossleyia xanthophrys)
Genus: Oxylabes
 White-throated Oxylabes (Gmelin, 1789) (Oxylabes madagascariensis)
Genus: Randia
 Rand's Warbler (Delacour & Berlioz, 1931) (Randia pseudozosterops)
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