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São Tomé shorttail

species of birds

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ61968138 ↗
Source-derived summary

The São Tomé shorttail (Motacilla bocagii), also known as Bocage's longbill, is a species of passerine bird in the family Motacillidae. It has been classified as the sole member of the genus Amaurocichla, but a 2015 phylogenetic study placed it among the wagtails in the genus Motacilla. It is endemic to the central and southern parts of the island of São Tomé. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This species has a small population and is threatened by habitat loss.

References

Eccles, S. D. (1988). "The birds of São Tomé — record of a visit, April 1987 with notes on the rediscovery of Bocage's Longbill" (PDF). Malimbus. 10 (2): 207–217.

Johansson, U. S.; Fjeldså, J.; Bowie, R. C. K. (2008).

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “São Tomé shorttail” is species of birds. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Tomé, shorttail and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2015, 1988, 1987, 2008—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Tomé, shorttail and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of birds” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q61968138. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2015, 1988, 1987 and 2008.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “São Tomé shorttail”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow São Tomé shorttail primary sources, São Tomé shorttail archive and Tomé research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “São Tomé shorttail”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “São Tomé shorttail” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.