White-rumped Shrike

SCI Name:  Eurocephalus ruppelli
Protonym:  Eurocephalus ruppelli Rev.Mag.Zool.(2), 5 p.440
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Laniidae / Eurocephalus
Taxonomy Code:  whrshr1
Type Locality:  White Nile, Shoa.
Author:  Bonaparte
Publish Year:  1853
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

EUROCEPHALUS
(Laniidae; Ϯ Southern White-crowned Shrike E. anguitimens) Gr. ευρυς eurus  broad; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē   head; "Fam. CORVIDÆ, Sw.   Genus EUROCEPHALUS.   Bill short, slightly arched, broad at base, compressed towards point, the upper mandible slightly notched; nostrils basal and partly covered by the incumbent feathers; rictus slightly bristled; wings moderate pointed, third quill longest; tail slightly rounded; tarsi short and like the acrotarsia divided; outer toe longer than the inner one; claws slightly curved.   Eurocephalus anguitimens.   ...   Inhabits the country between Latakoo and the Tropic.  When an opportunity occurs of comparing this bird with the various forms of the Corvidæ, its true place may be found in another family, and the resemblance, particularly as regards its habits, may be those of analogy and not affinity." (A. Smith 1836); "Eurocephalus Smith, 1836, Rep. Exp. Centr. Afr., App., p. 52. Type, by monotypy, E. anguitimens Smith." (Rand in Peters, 1960, IX, p. 309). Formerly these birds were treated as members of the Prionopidae (see Prionops), but modern work suggests that the Southern and Northern White-crowned Shrikes are primitive forms that share a common ancestor with the Corvidae (see Platylophus).   
Var. Eurycephalus.   
Synon. Chaetoblemma.

ruppeli / ruppelli
Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (1794-1884) German zoologist, explorer in north-east Africa and the Middle East (syn. Argya squamiceps, Eurocephalus, Sylvia).