Shrike-like Cotinga

Taxobox
name = Shrike-like Cotinga

---

image_caption = male "L. elegans buckleyi"
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Tityridae
genus = "Laniisoma"
genus_authority =
species = "L. elegans"
binomial = "Laniisoma elegans"
binomial_authority = (Thunberg, 1823)
synonyms = "Laniisoma buckleyi" (Sclater & Salvin, 1880)

The Shrike-like Cotinga ("Laniisoma elegans"), also known as the Shrike-like Laniisoma or the Elegant Mourner, is a species of bird in the family Tityridae. As suggested by its common name, it was formerly considered a cotinga. As it is far from being "shrike-like", this means that the widely used common name is entirely misleading. It is the only member of the genus "Laniisoma".

It is found in Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil and disjunctly in humid Andean forests in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It has been suggested that the Andean taxa ("buckleyi", "venezuelense" and "cadwaladeri") should be considered a separate species, the Andean Laniisoma ("L. buckleyi"). If this population was split off, the nominate taxon ("elegans") would constitute a monotypic Brazilian endemic, the Brazilian Laniisoma ("L. elegans"). It is generally rare and local throughout its range, and, if split, the Brazilian species would likely be considered threatened.

References

* BirdLife International 2006. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/11274/all Laniisoma elegans] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 26 July 2007.