Editing Lyrebird (section)

== Taxonomy ==
[[File:Menura superba - Thomas Davies.jpg|thumb|left|''Menura superba'' – superb lyrebird (1800) by [[Thomas Davies (British Army officer)|Thomas Davies]]]]

The classification of lyrebirds was the subject of much debate after the first specimens reached European scientists after 1798. Based on specimens sent from [[New South Wales]] to England, Major-General [[Thomas Davies (British Army officer)|Thomas Davies]] illustrated and described this species as the [[superb lyrebird]], which he called ''Menura superba'', in an 1800 presentation to the [[Linnean Society of London]], but this work was not published until 1802;<ref>{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Thomas|chapter=[[s:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London/Volume 6/Description of Menura superba, a bird of New South Wales|Description of ''Menura superba'', a Bird of New South Wales]]|title=Transactions of the Linnean Society|location=London|publication-date=1802|date=4 November 1800|pages=207–10|volume=6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Lyre-Bird}}</ref> in the intervening time period, however, the species was described and named ''Menura novaehollandiae'' by John Latham in 1801, and this is the accepted name by virtue of [[Principle of Priority|nomenclatural priority]].

The genus name ''Menura'' refers to the pattern of repeated transparent crescents (or "lunules") on the superb lyrebird's outer tail-feathers, from the [[Ancient Greek]] words {{lang|el|μήνη}} ''mēnē'' "moon" and {{lang|el|ουρά}} ''ourá'' "tail".<ref name=Helm>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling| title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names|last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010 |location=London, United Kingdom |publisher=Christopher Helm |isbn=978-1-4081-3326-2 |pages=250 |oclc=659731768 }}</ref>

Lyrebirds are named because their outer tail feathers are broad and curved in a S shape that together resemble the shape of a [[lyre]].<ref name="Reilly">{{Cite book |last=Reilly |first=Pauline N. | year=1988 |title=The Lyrebird: a natural history |location=Kensington, New South Wales, Australia |publisher=New South Wales University Press |isbn = 9780868401874}}</ref>{{rp|2, 18}} 

=== Systematics ===
Lyrebirds were thought to be [[Galliformes]] like the broadly similar looking [[partridge]], [[junglefowl]], and [[pheasant]]s familiar to Europeans, reflected in the early names given to the superb lyrebird, including native pheasant. They were also called peacock-wrens and Australian birds-of-paradise. The idea that they were related to the pheasants was abandoned when the first chicks, which are [[altricial]], were described. They were not classed with the passerines until a paper was published in 1840, twelve years after they were assigned a discrete family, Menuridae. Within that family they compose a single genus, ''Menura''.<ref name = "HBW">{{Citation | first = Alan | last = Lill | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-first = David | editor3-last = Christie | contribution = Family Menuridae (Lyrebirds) | title = Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9, Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails | year = 2004 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/484 484–495] | place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn = 84-87334-69-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/484 }}</ref>

It is generally accepted that the lyrebird family is most closely related to the [[scrubland|scrub]]-birds ([[Atrichornithidae]]) and some authorities combine both in a single family, but evidence that they are also related to the [[bowerbird]]s remains controversial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Christidis |first1=L. |last2=Norman |first2=J.A. |year=1996 |title=Molecular Perspectives on the Phylogenetic Affinities of Lyrebirds (Menuridae) and Treecreepers (Climacteridae) |journal=Australian Journal of Zoology |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=215–222 |doi=10.1071/zo9960215}}</ref>

Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals: the [[Australian Museum]] has fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Dec02/2810.html |title=Lyrebird: Overview |author=Boles, Walter |year=2011 |publisher=Pulse of the Planet |access-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> The prehistoric ''[[Menura tyawanoides]]'' has been described from Early [[Miocene]] [[fossil]]s found at the famous [[Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)|Riversleigh]] site.<ref name="Boles fossil">{{cite journal |last=Boles |first=Walter E. |title=A preliminary analysis of the Passeriformes from Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia, with the description of a new species of Lyrebird |journal=Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg |year=1995 |volume=181 |pages=163–170 |url=http://www.create.unsw.edu.au/research/files/Boles%20(1995)%20A%20preliminary%20analysis%20of%20the%20Passeriformes%20fro.PDF}}</ref>

===Species===
Two species of lyrebird are extant:
{{Species table |genus= Menura |authority-name= [[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]] |authority-year= 1801|species-count=two|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=Superb lyrebird called ''weringerong'', ''woorail'', and ''bulln-bulln'' in [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal languages]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reed |first=A.W. |author-link=Alexander Wyclif Reed |title=Aboriginal Words of Australia |pages=17; 34 |year=1998 |publisher=New Holland |location=Chatswood, NSW |isbn=978-1-876334-16-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJrICbfAmJ0C|access-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> |binomial=[[Menura novaehollandiae]]
|image=File:Superb lyrbird in scrub.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Latham|authority-year= 1801 |authority-not-original=
|range= south-eastern Australia, from southern Victoria to south-eastern Queensland
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=one of the world's largest songbirds, and is noted for its elaborate tail and excellent mimicry
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
|''M. n. edwardi''
|''M. n. novaehollandiae''
|''M. n. victoriae''
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=Albert's lyrebird or Northern lyrebird|binomial=[[Menura alberti]]
|image=File:Albert's lyrebird.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Bonaparte |authority-year=1850 |authority-not-original=
|range= between New South Wales and Queensland, Australia
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=Named in honour of [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]], the husband of [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}