Pantepui thrush

The Pantepui thrush (Turdus murinus) is a bird in the genus Turdus native to the tepuis of northern South America. It was previously considered conspecific with the black-billed thrush, but genetic data indicates that the two are not closely related.

Distribution and habitat
The species occurs in the foothills of southern Guyana, Venezuela, and northern Brazil. It inhabits a variety of habitats including clearings, savannas with gallery woodland, cerrado, humid forest borders, coffee plantations, and various other habitats under anthropogenic influence. It has been observed to prefer habitats at the borders of tropical moist forests.

First description
The species T. murinus was first described by British zoologist Osbert Salvin in 1885. Its type locality is Merumé, Mount Roraima, Guyana at 3500-5000 feet.

Etymology
The generic name Turdus is derived from Latin, meaning "thrush", and the species name murinus comes from the Latin term for "mouse-grey".

Taxonomy
Turdus murinus and Turdus arthuri were originally considered subspecies of Turdus ignobilis, until the two species were determined to have significant genetic distance from T. ignobilis through studies in molecular phylogenetics concluded in the 2010s. Formal recognition of a separation of the species was made by the American Ornithological Society in 2019.