this species has been commonly assumed to be closely related to the whitethroat, as their common names imply. it was suggested that the two species separated in the last ice age similar to the pattern found in the chiffchaff and willow warbler, with their ancestor being forced into two enclaves, one in the southeast and one in the southwest of europe. when the ice sheets retreated, the two forms supposedly no longer recognised each other as the same species. however, scientists researching this question have for quite some time realized that these two taxa are not particularly close relatives.