![]() The phylogenetic analysis placed Erithacus in the subfamily Erithacinae, which otherwise contained only African species, but its exact position with respect to the other genera was not resolved. In a reorganisation of the genera, the Japanese and the Ryukyu robins were moved to the resurrected genus Larvivora leaving the European robin as the sole member of Erithacus. These east Asian species were shown in molecular phylogenetic studies to be more similar to a group of other Asian species than to the European robin. ![]() The genus Erithacus previously included the Japanese robin and the Ryukyu robin. The genus name Erithacus is from Ancient Greek and refers to an unknown bird, now usually identified as robin. The genus Erithacus was introduced by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1800, giving the bird its current binomial name E. Its specific epithet rubecula is a diminutive derived from the Latin ruber, meaning 'red'. The European robin was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla rubecula. In American literature of the late 19th century, this robin was frequently called the English robin. Other older English names for the bird include ruddock and robinet. These include the American robin ( Turdus migratorius), a thrush, and the Australasian robins of the family Petroicidae, the relationships of which are unclear. The term robin is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. As a given name, Robin is originally a smaller form of the name Robert. ![]() In the 15th century, when it became popular to give human names to familiar species, the bird came to be known as robin redbreast, which was eventually shortened to robin. The Dutch roodborstje, French rouge-gorge, Swedish rödhake, German Rotkehlchen, Italian pettirosso, Spanish petirrojo and Portuguese pisco-de-peito-ruivo all refer to the distinctively coloured front. The distinctive orange breast of both sexes contributed to the European robin's original name of "redbreast", orange as a colour name being unknown in English until the 16th century, by which time the fruit had been introduced.
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