Asian Stubtail

SCI Name:  Urosphena squameiceps
Protonym:  Tribura squameiceps Proc.Zool.Soc.London Pt2 p.292
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Scotocercidae / Urosphena
Taxonomy Code:  asistu1
Type Locality:  Canton.
Author:  Swinhoe
Publish Year:  1863
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

UROSPHENA
(Scotocercidae; Ϯ Asian Stubtail U. squameiceps) Gr. ουρα oura  tail; σφην sphēn, σφηνος sphēnos  wedge; "Mr. Brooks urges me to have a figure of this bird published, and to assign to it the characters of a new genus, as he considers that it does not belong to Tribura, Pnoepyga, Horornis, or any other known genus, though it has certain characters in common with them.  I think, therefore, that it would be as well to propose for it the generic name Urosphena, from its wedge-shaped tail, and to characterize it as follows:—  Bill at base exceedingly slender and much depressed.  Wing of unusual power for such a little bird.  Tail almost as in Pnoepyga, but somewhat more rounded.  Style of coloration scaly, as in Pnoepyga.  Legs and feet large, strong, and coloured as in Horornis.  Lower tail-coverts very long.  Mr. Brooks says, "I do not know of any genus in which this little bird can be placed: the scaly plumage separates it from Horornis, Neornis, and Tribura.  This, with its queer short tail, brings it near Pnoepyga; but the bill is as slender as in Troglodytes, or more so, and the wing is quite unlike that of Pnoepyga.  I wonder whether ten tail-feathers is the correct number; that is the number in my specimen, which appears to be perfect."  The synonymy of this bird will stand as follows:—  UROSPHENA SQUAMICEPS.  Tribura squamiceps, Swinhoe, P.Z.S. 1863, p. 292; Ibis, 1866, p. 397, et 1874, p. 155." (Swinhoe 1877); "Urosphena Swinhoe, 1877, Ibis, p. 204, pl. 4. Type, by monotypy, Tribura squameiceps Swinhoe." (Watson in Peters 1986, XI, 6).
Synon. Orthnocichla, Urophlexis.

squameiceps
L. squameus  scaly  < squama  scale; -ceps  -capped  < caput, capitis  head.