Sandhill Grasswren

SCI Name:  Amytornis oweni
Protonym:  Amytornis striatus oweni Bull.Br.Orn.Club 27 p.48
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Maluridae / Amytornis
Taxonomy Code:  sangra1
Type Locality:  Bore Well, East Murchison, Western Australia.
Author:  Mathews
Publish Year:  1911
IUCN Status:  

DEFINITIONS

AMYTORNIS
(Maluridae; Ϯ Thick-billed Grasswren A. textilis) Genus Amytis Lesson, 1831, grasswren; Gr. ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "Textile Wren ... its mode of progression on the ground is such as no description can convey an accurate conception of, and must be seen to be understood: I cannot perhaps compare it with anything, unless with the motion of an Indian-rubber ball when thrown forcibly along the ground. While stealing from bush to bush, with this rapid movement, its head low and tail perfectly erect, it presents an exceedingly droll appearance" (Gould 1865); "Malurinæ  ...  Amytornis textilis, with two allied species, also from Australia, belong here, wren-like birds of brown plumage, with curious whitish longitudinal streaks" (Stejneger 1885); "Amytornis Stejneger, 1885, in Kingsley, Standard Nat. Hist., 4, p. 499. New name for Amytis Lesson, 1831, preoccupied by Amytis Savigny, 1822." (Mayr in Peters, 1986, XI, p. 404).   
Synon. Amictus, Amytis, Cryptamytis, Diaphorillas, Eyramytis, Magnamytis, Mytisa.

oweni
● Col. Richard Owen Wynne DSC (1892-1967) British Army, step-son of Australian ornithologist Gregory M. Mathews (subsp. Amytornis striatus, syn. Chlamydera nuchalis, syn. Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri, syn. Gallinago megala).
● Prof. Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) British comparative anatomist, zoologist (‡syn. Anomalopteryx didiformis).