NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Philippine Spine-tailed Swift
Mearnsia picina (Tweeddale, 1879)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Philippine spinetail (Mearnsia picina), also known as the Philippine needletail or Philippine spine-tailed swift, is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Mindanao and Visayas. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.
Wikipedia contributors, Philippine spinetail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:05:57.693976+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mearnsia picina (Tweeddale, 1879)
- Name authority
- (Tweeddale, 1879)
- Common name
- Philippine Spine-tailed Swift
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Apodiformes
- Family
- Apodidae
- Genus
- Mearnsia
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderApodiformes
- familyApodidae
- subfamilyApodinae
- genusMearnsia Ridgway, 1911
- speciesMearnsia picina (Tweeddale, 1879)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mearnsia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Papuan Spine-tailed SwiftMearnsia novaeguineae (D'Albertis & Salvadori, 1879) | ApodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=554975 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3YJM4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.