Lesser Shrike-Tyrant

SCI Name:  Agriornis murinus
Protonym:  P[epoaza] Murina Mag.Zool. 7 cl.2 p.63
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Tyrannidae / Agriornis
Taxonomy Code:  lessht1
Type Locality:  Patagonia; type from Rio Negro, Argentina, fide Hellmayr, 1925, Novit. Zool., 32, p. 327.
Author:  d''Orbigny & Lafresnaye
Publish Year:  1837
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AGRIORNIS
(Tyrannidae; † Grey-bellied Shrike Tyrant A. micropterus) Gr. αγριος agrios  fierce; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "Birds Pl. 12.  Agriornis micropterus.   ...   Birds Pl. 13.  Agriornis leucurus." (Gould in Darwin 1839 (January)); “GENUS. — AGRIORNIS. Gould.  Tyrannus, Eyd. & Gerv.  Pepoaza, D'Orb. & Lafr.   ...  Mr. Gould observes that the members of this genus are remarkable for their robust form and for their strength and magnitude of their bills; and their habits strictly accord with their structure, as they are fierce and courageous.   ...   1. AGRIORNIS GUTTURALIS. Gould.  ...  My specimens were obtained near Valparaiso in Chile.  I saw it as far north as the valley of Copiapó.  I was assured by the inhabitants that it is a very fierce bird, and that it will attack and kill the young of other birds.    2. AGRIORNIS STRIATUS. Gould.  ...   3. AGRIORNIS MICROPTERUS. Gould.  ...   4. AGRIORNIS MARITIMUS. G. R. Gray.  ...  Agriornis leucurus.  Gould's MSS., and on Pl. xiii.” (Gould in Darwin 1839 (July)); "Agriornis GOULD in Darwin, Zool. Beagle, 3, Part 6, pl. 12, 13, Jan. 1839— type (present designation ^a) Agriornis micropterus GOULD.  ...  ^a Gray's action (Cat. Gen. Subgen. Birds, p. 41, 1855) in selecting "Tyrannus" lividus KITTLITZ as genotype is invalid, since the genus as originally proposed in January 1839, contained only A. micropterus and A. leucurus.  The corresponding section of the letter press of the Zoology of the Beagle (pp. 33-56) was not published until July 1839." (Hellmayr, 1927, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. V, 1); "Agriornis Gould, in Darwin, 1839, Zool. Beagle, pt. 3, Birds, pls. 12, 13.  Type, by subsequent designation (Hellmayr, 1927, Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., 13, pt. 5, p. 1), Agriornis micropterus Gould." (Traylor in Peters, 1979, VIII, p. 165).
Synon. Tamnolanius.

murinus
Mod. L. murinus  mouse-grey  < L. murinus  of mice  < mus, muris  mouse (cf. Med. L. murina  plague, murrain).
● ex "Perruche souris" of Brisson 1760, “Perruche à poitrine grise” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 768, and “Perruche” of Pernety 1769 (syn. Myiopsitta monachus).