Sheppardia aurantiithorax Beresford, Fjeldsa & Kiure, 2004
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.
Sheppardia aurantiithorax, Kilosa, TZ-MO, TZ, 2015-11-21 (iNaturalist).
Mikael Bauer · 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 Rubeho akalat (Sheppardia aurantiithorax) is a member of the Old World flycatcher family, (Muscicapiidae), known from the Rubeho Mountains in Dodoma Region. The mountains are a part of the Eastern Arc of Tanzania. Akalats trapped in 1989 here were assumed to be an isolated population of Iringa akalat which occurs c. 150 km to the south, but further specimens collected in 2000 led to the description of the bird as a new species. The bird's English name relates to its type locality, Rubeho Mountains, Morogoro; the scientific name to the ochraceous colour on its throat and upper breast.
The Rubeho akalat is found in the Rubeho Mountains, the Wota Mountains northwest of the Rubehos, the Ukaguru Mountains, and Mount Kiboriani northwest of the Ukugurus, between 1660 and 2400 meters elevation. The species is thought to be fairly common in montane forests within its small range, but its very limited distribution has let to it being classified as Endangered species in the 2008 IUCN Red List.
Wikipedia contributors, Rubeho akalat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T14:11:13.167178+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sheppardia aurantiithorax Beresford, Fjeldsa & Kiure, 2004
- Name authority
- Beresford, Fjeldsa & Kiure, 2004
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Sheppardia
- 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
- familyMuscicapidae Fleming, 1822
- genusSheppardia Haagner, 1909
- speciesSheppardia aurantiithorax Beresford, Fjeldsa & Kiure, 2004
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sheppardia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bocage's RobinSheppardia bocagei (Finsch & Hartlaub, 1870) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gabela AkalatSheppardia gabela (Rand, 1957) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| East Coast AkalatSheppardia gunningi Haagner, 1909 | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sharpe's AkalatSheppardia sharpei (Shelley, 1903) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lowland AkalatSheppardia cyornithopsis (Sharpe, 1901) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Iringa AkalatSheppardia lowei (Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1941) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Usambara AkalatSheppardia montana (Reichenow, 1907) | MuscicapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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=916318 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:4X4FF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.