Long-tailed Finch - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Long-tailed Finch was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1840 as Amadina acuticauda, having been collected by Benjamin Bynoe, the surgeon aboard HMS Beagle. It is one of three species in the genus Poephila. It is placed in the Australo-papuan Finch family Estrildidae, although this family itself was previously placed in the sparrow family Passeridae.

A genetic study published in 2005 showed that the two subspecies of the Long-tailed Finch were separated from each other by the Kimberley Plateau–Arnhem Land Barrier around 340,000 years ago, and their ancestors diverged from the Black-throated Finch (P. cincta) across the Carpentarian Barrier 0.6 million years ago.