Mimus is a genus of passerine birds in the family Mimidae. It contains the typical mockingbirds.
Taxonomy
The genus Mimus was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie to contain a single species, Turdus polyglottis Linnaeus, 1758, the northern mockingbird, which becomes the type species by monotypy. The genus name is Latin for "mimic". A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2006 found that the genus Nesomimus, containing the species endemic to the Galápagos islands, was embedded in the genus Mimus. The genera were therefore merged under the earlier name, Mimus. The position of the Galápagos species within the genus Mimus was confirmed by a more comprehensive study published in 2012.
The genus contains the following 14 species, with four Nesomimus species endemic to the Galápagos Islands (given after the following 10):
The Nesomimus group includes the following four species endemic to the Galápagos Islands:
Image
Scientific name
Common name
Mimus macdonaldi
Española mockingbird (formerly Hood mockingbird)
Mimus parvulus
Galápagos mockingbird
Mimus trifasciatus
Floreana mockingbird or Charles mockingbird
Mimus melanotis
San Cristóbal mockingbird
The Nesomimus group is endemic to the Galápagos Islands. These mockingbirds were important in Charles Darwin's development of the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Previous to the merger between Nesomimus and Mimus scientists have proved in 1971 that both groups can produce hybrids. Robert I. Bowman and...
