Editing Piapiac (section)

==Taxonomy==
In 1760 the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] included a description of the piapiac in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name ''La pie du Sénégal'' and the Latin ''Pica Senegalensis''.<ref name=brisson>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=2 | language=fr, la | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=40–41, Plate 3 fig 2 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36011220 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.</ref> Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial system]] and are not recognised by the [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]].<ref name=allen>{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 | hdl=2246/678 }}</ref> When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] updated his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' for the [[12th edition of Systema Naturae|twelfth edition]], he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.<ref name=allen/> One of these was the piapiac. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the [[binomial name]] ''Corvus afer'' and cited Brisson's work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii  | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | page=157 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946353 }}</ref> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''afer'' is Latin for "Africa".<ref name=hbwkey>{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2018 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/afer | access-date=16 May 2018 }}</ref> The piapiac is the only species placed in the [[genus]] ''Ptilostomus'' that was introduced by the English naturalist [[William Swainson]] in 1837.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1837 | title=On the Natural History and Classification of Birds | volume=2 | place=London  | publisher=John Taylor | page=266 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41945044 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr  | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=260 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485633 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=World Bird List Version 8.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=16 May 2018 }}</ref> The species is [[monotypic]].<ref name=ioc/>

A [[molecular phylogenetic]] study published in 2005 found that the piapiac from Africa was most closely related to the ground jays in the genus ''[[Podoces]]'' that inhabit Central Asia.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Ericson | first1= Per G. P. | last2=Jansén | first2=Anna-Lee | last3=Johansson | first3=Ulf S. | last4=Ekman | first4=Jan | year=2005 | title=Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data | journal=Journal of Avian Biology | volume=36 | issue= 3 | pages=222–234 | doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2001.03409.x | url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e32c81078a8d9249800021299/Corvidae%5B1%5D.pdf | citeseerx= 10.1.1.493.5531 }}</ref>