Yellow-tufted Honeyeater - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

It was initially described by ornithologist John Latham in 1802 and given several names, initially Muscicapa auricomis and later Turdus melanops. The latter name was retained as a nomen protectum and the former a nomen oblitum as the epithet melanops has been used consistently for over a century. It belongs to the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae, and the Petroicidae (Australian robins) in a large corvid superfamily; some researchers considering all these families in a broadly defined Corvidae.