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The strong-billed honeyeater (''Melithreptus validirostris'') is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is one of two species of the genus ''Melithreptus'' endemic to Tasmania. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. ==Taxonomy== The strong-billed honeyeater was first described by ornithologist John Gould in 1837. Its specific name is derived from the Latin words ''validus'' "strong", and ''rostrum'' "bill". It is a member of the genus ''Melithreptus'' with several species, of similar size and (apart from the brown-headed honeyeater) black-headed appearance, in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. Molecular markers show the strong-billed honeyeater separated from the common ancestor of the brown-headed and black-chinned honeyeaters between 6.7 and 3.4 million years ago. The next closest relative outside the genus is the much larger but similarly marked blue-faced honeyeater.〔Driskell, A.C., Christidis, L (2004) Phylogeny and evolution of the Australo-Papuan honeyeaters (Passeriformes, Meliphagidae) ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 31 943–960〕 More recently, DNA analysis has shown honeyeaters to be related to the Pardalotidae (pardalotes), Acanthizidae (Australian warblers, scrubwrens, thornbills, etc.), and the Maluridae (Australian fairy-wrens) in a large Meliphagoidea superfamily.〔Barker, F.K., Cibois, A., Schikler, P., Feinstein, J., and Cracraft, J (2004) Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. ''Proceedings Natl. Acad. Sci., USA'' 101 11040-11045〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Strong-billed honeyeater」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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