Sparrow-weaver

Sparrow-weaver
White-browed sparrow-weaver, Plocepasser mahali
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Ploceidae
Genus: Plocepasser
A. Smith, 1836
Type species
Plocepasser mahali[1]
A. Smith, 1836
Synonyms
  • Philagrus
  • Ploceopasser
  • Ploceuspasser[2]

The sparrow-weavers (Plocepasser) are a genus of birds in the family Ploceidae (weavers), but some taxonomic authorities place them in the family Passeridae (Old World sparrows).

Taxonomy and systematics

The genus Plocepasser contains the following species:[2]

Genus Plocepasser – A. Smith, 1836 – four species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
White-browed sparrow-weaver

Plocepasser mahali
Smith, 1836

Four subspecies
  • P. m. melanorhynchus
  • P. m. pectoralis
  • P. m. ansorgei
  • P. m. mahali
northern South Africa, its range includes Botswana, northern and central Namibia, and western Zimbabwe Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Chestnut-crowned sparrow-weaver

Plocepasser superciliosus
(Cretzschmar, 1827) 		Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Donaldson Smith's sparrow-weaver

Plocepasser donaldsoni
Sharpe, 1895 		Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Chestnut-backed sparrow-weaver

Plocepasser rufoscapulatus
(Büttikofer, 1888) 		Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Zambia. Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 




Phylogeny

Based on recent DNA-analysis (which only included P. mahali), the genus Plocepasser belongs to the group of sparrow weavers (subfamily Plocepasserinae), and is most related to the clade that consists of Philetairus socius and the genus Pseudonigrita. This clade is sister to the most basic genus of the subfamily, Sporopipes.[3] Provided that genera are correct clades, the following tree expresses current insights.

family Ploceidae
subfamily Amblyospizinae

Amblyospiza albifrons

subfamily Plocepasserinae

Sporopipes

Plocepasser

Philetairus socius

Pseudonigrita

subfamily Bubalornithinae
subfamily Ploceinae

all other weaverbirds

References

  1. ^ "Ploceidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ a b "Plocepasser Smith, A, 1836". Global Biodivedrsity Information Facility. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  3. ^ De Silva, Thilina N.; Peterson, A. Townsend; Bates, John M.; Fernandoa, Sumudu W.; Girard, Matthew G. (2017). "Phylogenetic relationships of weaverbirds (Aves: Ploceidae): A first robust phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 109: 21–32. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.013. PMID 28012957.


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