Taxonomy and Systematics
Luscinia was used for nightingales and similar birds in Classical Latin already (e.g. in the AD 70s Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder), if not earlier. Etymologically, it might be derived from luscus (Latin for "half-blind", "half-understood" etc.) or clueō (Latin for "to be well-known") + (probably) Latin canō "to sing". Hence, it could be translated as "little-seen songster" or "famous songster".
The species currently placed in Luscinia are:
- Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica
- Siberian Rubythroat, Luscinia calliope
- Rufous-tailed Robin or Swinhoe's Nightingale, Luscinia sibilans
- Thrush Nightingale, Luscinia luscinia
- Common Nightingale or Rufous Nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos
- Indian Blue Robin or Indian Bluechat, Luscinia brunnea
- White-tailed Rubythroat, Luscinia pectoralis
- Rufous-headed Robin, Luscinia ruficeps
- Blackthroat, Luscinia obscura
- Firethroat, Luscinia pectardens
- Siberian Blue Robin, Luscinia cyane
Delimitation of Luscinia versus the genus Erithacus has been confused for long; species were rather indiscriminately placed in one or the other genus, or Luscinia was entirely merged into Erithacus. Recent research suggests that the genera should be rearranged, with the East Asian species (like the Siberian Blue Robin and the Japanese Robin, E. akahige) forming a distinct genus or belonging into Luscinia. No matter how they are eventually divided up, Erithacus and Luscinia are distinct and ancient lineages of the chats.
Fossil remains of a probable Luscinia resembling to the larger members of the genus have been found at Polgárdi in Hungary. They date from the Messinian age, around 12 to 7.3 million years ago (Ma) during the Late Miocene subepoch. A Late Pliocene fossil from Rębielice Królewskie (Poland), of Piacenzian age (around 3 Ma), could be an ancestral Bluethroat. A supposed Sylvia warbler fossil from the late Gelasian of Bad Deutsch-Altenburg (Austria), about 2 Ma old, may be of a Luscinia instead; due to its recent age it probably belongs to a living species or its immediate ancestor.
Read more about this topic: Luscinia