Eastern Spinebill - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Originally described as Certhia tenuirostris by ornithologist John Latham in 1802, it is a member of the small genus Acanthorhynchus with one other, the Western Spinebill of Western Australia. The generic name is derived from the Greek translation of its common name, namely acantho-/ακανθο- "spine" and rhynchos/ρυνχος "bill". Its specific name is from Latin tenuis "narrow" and rostrum billed. Other English names include Spine-billed Honeyeater and Awl-bird or Cobbler’s Awl Bird. The Eastern Spinebill is polytypic consisting of the subspecies A. t. cairnsensis, A. t. dubius, A. t. halmaturinus, and the nominate subspecies A. t. tenuirostris.

The Eastern Spinebill forms a superspecies with the closely related Western Spinebill. Scientists believe the two sister species are descended from a shared ancestor whose once widespread populations were separated by climate change. During a past period of desertification, that ancestor species retreated to refuges in the southwestern and southeastern corners of the continent, and evolved into the two present-day spinebill species. Recent DNA studies have shown that the two spinebills belong to a clade which is a sister taxon to all other honeyeaters.