Parus

Eck, Siegfried, 2006, The Palaearctic Titmouse Species (Aves: Paridae: Parus sensu lato) — A current survey *, Zootaxa 1325, pp. 7-54 : 33

X. Parus [ lugubris ]

According to Gill et al. (2005) the Sombre Tits, Parus lugubris s.str., are phylogenetically positioned at the base of the Poecile clade, next to P. v a r i u s! The Sombre Tits s.l. are still controversial today. On the basis of morphological­geographical comparisons Eck (1980) arrived at the divergent taxonomic evaluation of Père David’s Tit, P. davidi , as representative of the Sombre Tits ( P. lugubris ); its classification as subspecies undoubtedly went too far. A convincing alternative to the idea that the western Sombre Tits are likewise anchored in central Asia, along with davidi , has not yet been discussed.