which along with Cyanistes comprises a lineage of tits known as the "non-hoarders", with reference to the hoarding behaviour of members of the other clade. The genus Parus is still the largest in the family, but may be split again. Other than those species formerly considered to be subspecies, the great tit's closest relatives are the white-naped and green-backed tits of southern Asia. Hybrids with tits outside the genus Parus are very rare, but have been recorded with blue tit, coal tit, and probably marsh tit. Subspecies There are currently 15 recognised subspecies of great tit: P. m. newtoni, described by Pražák in 1894, is found across the British Isles. P. m. major, described by Linnaeus in 1758, is found throughout much of Europe, Asia Minor, northern and eastern Kazakhstan, southern Siberia and northern Mongolia, as far as the mid-Amur Valley. P. m. excelsus, described by Buvry in 1857, is found in northwestern Africa. P. m. corsus, described by Kleinschmidt in 1903, is found in Portugal, southern Spain, and Corsica. P. m. mallorcae, described by von Jordans in 1913, is found in the Balearic Islands. P. m. ecki, described by von Jordans in 1970, is found on Sardinia. P. m. niethammeri, described by von Jordans in 1970, is found on Crete. P. m. aphrodite, described by Madarász in 1901, is found in southern Italy, southern Greece, Cyprus and the Aegean Islands. P. m. terrasanctae was described by Hartert in 1910. It is found in Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Syria. P. m. karelini, described by Zarudny in 1910, is found in southeastern Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran. P. m. blandfordi was described by Pražák in 1894. It is found in north central and southwestern Iran. P. m. bokharensis was described by Lichtenstein in 1823. It is found in southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and far north of Iran and Afghanistan. It was, along with following two subspecies, once treated as separate species. P. m. turkestanicus, was described by Zarudny & Loudon in 1905, and ranges from east Kazakhstan to extreme north west China and west Mongolia. P. m. ferghanensis, was described by Buturlin in 1912, and is found in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. P. m. kapustini, was described by Portenko in 1954, and is found in north west China (north west Xinjiang) to Mongolia and Siberia. Description The great tit is large for a tit at in length, and has a distinctive appearance that