NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Lesser Melampitta
Melampitta lugubris Schlegel, 1871
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.
Lesser Melampitta (Melampitta lugubris)
Nigel Voaden · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The lesser melampitta (Melampitta lugubris) is a medium-sized enigmatic terrestrial songbird of mountain forests of New Guinea. It is the only species in the genus Melampitta. It is now classified (with the greater melampitta) in the family Melampittidae, but in some other sources it is variously considered close to or in the Orthonychidae (logrunners), Paradisaeidae (birds of paradise), Corcoracidae (Australian mud-nesters), Cnemophilidae (satinbirds) or Monarchidae (monarch flycatchers).
A local name, used by the Ketengban people of the Jayawijaya Mountains, is golík.
It is approximately 18 cm long and has an all-black plumage with long legs and short tail. Both sexes are almost similar, distinguished by the color of the iris. The male has crimson red iris while the female's are dark brown.
The lesser melampitta builds dome-like nest in the forests. The diet consists mainly of insects.
Widespread and a common species throughout its habitat range, the lesser melampitta is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Wikipedia contributors, Lesser melampitta; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:31:29.618150+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Melampitta lugubris Schlegel, 1871
- Name authority
- Schlegel, 1871
- Common name
- Lesser Melampitta
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Melampittidae
- Genus
- Melampitta
- 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
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMelampittidae Schodde & Christidis, 2014
- genusMelampitta Schlegel, 1871
- speciesMelampitta lugubris Schlegel, 1871
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Melampitta lugubris longicauda Mayr & Gilliard, 1952 Mayr & Gilliard, 1952 | synonym |
| Melampitta lugubris lugubris Schlegel, 1871 Schlegel, 1871 | synonym |
| Melampitta lugubris rostrata (Ogilvie-Grant, 1913) (Ogilvie-Grant, 1913) | synonym |
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.
- Schlegel, & Hermann. (1871). Observations Zoologiques V. Nederlandsch Tijdschrift Voor de Dierkunde, Vol. 4. 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.
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:3Z4H5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.