Black Fantail

The black fantail is a species of bird in the family Rhipiduridae. It is endemic to the highlands of New Guinea and the nearby island of Waigeo. The species was named by Italian naturalist Tommaso Salvadori in 1876, who gave it the specific name atra for the Latin word for dull black. Two subspecies have been described, the widespread nominate race R. a. atra, and R. a. vulpes of the Cyclops Mountains. R. a. vulpes was described in 1931 by Ernst Mayr, who named it from the rufous colour of foxes. Whithin the genus Rhipidura the closest relative of the black fantail is uncertain, a 2009 study of the genetics of the family found 6 well defined clades within the fantails but could not place this species with any of them.