Monticola Explorator Bird

English Name:  Sentinel Rock-Thrush
Latin Name:  Monticola explorator
Protonym:  Turdus explorator Nouv.Dict.Hist.Nat. 20 p.260
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Muscicapidae / Monticola
Taxonomy Code:  serthr1
Type Locality:  mountains of the Cape of Good Hope.
Author:  Vieillot
Publish Year:  1818
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

MONTICOLA
(Muscicapidae; Ϯ Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush M. saxatilis) L. monticola  mountain-dweller, mountaineer  < mons, montis  mountain; -cola  inhabitant  < colere  to dwell; "22. Familie. Drosseln, Turdus.  43. Gattung. Monticola.²    85. saxatilis    86. cyanus.   ...   ² Unterscheidendes Kennzeichen der Gattung: das rostrothe oder schieferblaue Gefieder." (Boie 1822); "Monticola Boie, 1822, Isis, col. 552. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1847, Gen. Birds, 1, p. 220), Turdus saxatilis Linnaeus." (Ripley in Peters 1964, X, 135).
Synon. Colonocincla, Cyanocincla, Migratorius, Notiocichla, Notiocincla, Orocetes, Oroscirtetes, Petrocincla, Petrocossyphus, Petrophila, Petrornis, Pseudocossyphus.

monticola
L. monticola  mountain-dweller  < mons, montis  mountain; -cola  dweller  < colere  to inhabit.
● Namaqualand; ex “Traquet Montagnard” of Levaillant 1806, pl. 184, fig. 2 (Dromolaea).
● Hudson’s Bay; ex “Mountain Finch” of Latham 1783 (syn. Spizella arborea).
● Canada; ex “Moineau du Canada” of Brisson 1760, and d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 223, fig. 2, and “Soulciet” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (?syn. Zonotrichia leucophrys).

explorator
L. explorator, exploratoris  scout, explorer, searcher  < explorare  to explore.
● "We have received, during more than three years, numerous collections from all these islands by our correspondent Mr. Heinrich Kühn, of Toeal, on Little Key.  Most of these collections are from Toeal, but also some of the outlying little islets were repeatedly visited by Mr. Kühn or his native collectors." (Hartert 1901) (subsp. Geoffroyus geoffroyi).
● ex “Espionneur” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 103 (Monticola).
● “as indicating the [Challenger] ‘Expedition’ and well illustrating the inquisitive poking-into-everything character of the birds of this genus” (Layard 1875) (Zosterops).

SUBSPECIES

Sentinel Rock-Thrush (explorator)
Latin Name: Monticola explorator explorator
explorator
L. explorator, exploratoris  scout, explorer, searcher  < explorare  to explore.
● "We have received, during more than three years, numerous collections from all these islands by our correspondent Mr. Heinrich Kühn, of Toeal, on Little Key.  Most of these collections are from Toeal, but also some of the outlying little islets were repeatedly visited by Mr. Kühn or his native collectors." (Hartert 1901) (subsp. Geoffroyus geoffroyi).
● ex “Espionneur” of Levaillant 1802, pl. 103 (Monticola).
● “as indicating the [Challenger] ‘Expedition’ and well illustrating the inquisitive poking-into-everything character of the birds of this genus” (Layard 1875) (Zosterops).

Sentinel Rock-Thrush (tenebriformis)
Latin Name: Monticola explorator tenebriformis
tenebriformis
L. tenebricus  dark, gloomy  < tenebrae  darkness; formis  formed  < forma  form, figure.