Dark Batis (Batis crypta)

Adult, male. No subspecies recognized. Udzungwa Mts, June 2007. Copyright@; Louis A. Hansen. Formerly thought a variation/or subspecies within/of the Batis mixta complex, but only due to poor illustrations of this taxon. However, recent fieldwork gave the impression that "something" was wrong here. Jon Fjeldså, Rauri C. K. Bowie and Jacob Kiure - later described it as a full and valid species. The characters that distinguish the two mentioned taxa are (e.g.): male has no white supercilium stripe; female have chestnut-cinnamon wing coverts. See also the uploaded pictures of the female Batis crypta. In addition see the new initiative started at the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen with digitalizing the Tanzania bird collection: http://www.zmuc.dk/VerWeb/Tanzanian_Vertebrates/Bird/Bird_type/Batis_crypta_95.263/Batis_crypta_95.263.html

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