Rufous Cisticola
Cisticola rufus (Fraser, 1843)
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.
Cisticola rufus, West Gonja, Ghana, 2025-02-23 (iNaturalist).
Zac Peterson · 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 rufous cisticola (Cisticola rufus) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
Wikipedia contributors, Rufous cisticola; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:39:03.427335+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cisticola rufus (Fraser, 1843)
- Name authority
- (Fraser, 1843)
- Common name
- Rufous Cisticola
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
- Genus
- Cisticola
- 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
- familyCisticolidae Sundevall, 1872
- genusCisticola Kaup, 1829
- speciesCisticola rufus (Fraser, 1843)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cisticola. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cisticola guinea Lynes, 1930 | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Socotra CisticolaCisticola haesitatus (P. L. Sclater & Hartlaub, 1881) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chubb's CisticolaCisticola chubbi Sharpe, 1892 | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cisticola lugubris (Rüppell, 1840) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rufous-winged CisticolaCisticola galactotes (Temminck, 1821) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cisticola haematocephalus Cabanis, 1868 | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hunter's CisticolaCisticola hunteri Shelley, 1889 | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rock-loving CisticolaCisticola emini Reichenow, 1892 | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-headed CisticolaCisticola exilis (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Whistling CisticolaCisticola lateralis (Fraser, 1843) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cisticola chiniana (A. Smith, 1843) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ashy CisticolaCisticola cinereolus Salvadori, 1888 | CisticolidaeChordata | 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=559350 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:5YWGF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.