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spiderhunter question: modesta and affinis (1 Viewer)

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

Well-known member
can some kind person explain the latest on Arachnothera modesta versus A. affinis. Which species is found where? They have been changed around so much I've got all confused :eek!:
 
Chlidonias said:
Which species is found where?
Click to expand...

You do not seem to be the only one wondering.

In Haines 2007 (Haines, C. L., 2007. Comparative phylogeography of four montane bird species in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Louisiana State Univ.: i-vi, 1-51.):

A particularly interesting controversy concerns the species status of Arachnothera affinis. In Borneo, it is thought to be a montane species, replaced in the lowlands by A. modesta (Davison 1999, Smythies 1999). Birdwatchers frequently identify both species at Poring Hot Springs, part of Kinabalu Park, where birding trails run from ca. 500 to 1000 m. In this study, I examined specimens collected at both lowland and highland locations, and Rob Moyle (pers. comm.) performed a morphometric study on approximately 92 Sabah specimens from both low and highland locations. There is no evidence of consistent morphological or molecular differences between montane and lowland individuals. The upshot of these comparisons is that in Sabah there is only a single species. Whether this is true in other parts of Sabah is not clear.
Click to expand...
 
There is no such segragation by altitude of the two in Sabah, Borneo, as suggested in HBW. Only "affinis" (ssp. everetti) appears to occur here. See the MSc thesis by Cheryl Leigh Haines http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07132007-112813/unrestricted/Haines_thesis.pdf and this article http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/57/57rbz577-586.pdf Would be great if a wider phylogeographical study is conducted for this group. Will the Sabahan birds really turn out to be close sister with the Javan/Bali brids?
 
Without reading the linked content, are these studies calling into doubt the existence of two species (ie call for lump) or saying that modesta might not occur in Borneo, or a third version?

thanks
Niels
 
A third version: this study by Haines recognizes two species and says both occur on Borneo. However, only Sabahan birds are sampled and these are all considered to be A. affinis everetti. The rest of Borneo is considered to be A. modesta, which I guess is defendable based on morphology, but there are no genetics to back this up. Similarly placing the Sabahan birds with those from Java/Bali A. affinis affinis is not based on genetics.
 
thanks from me too, those two linked articles were most helpful (it now means I can take the grey-breasted spiderhunter off my Sabah list and add on Mr. New Tick, the streaky-breasted spiderhunter; and in future won't need to worry about trying to distinguish the two whilst I'm in Sabah!)
 
Peter Kovalik said:
Moyle, R.G., Taylor, S.S., Oliveros, C.H., Lim, H.C., Haines, C.L., Rahman, M.A. and Sheldon, F.H. In Revision. Diversification of an insular Southeast Asian clade: Phylogenetic relationships of the Spiderhunters (Aves: Nectariniidae). Auk
http://sites.google.com/site/bigriverforest/home/publications
Click to expand...

Robert G Moyle, Sabrina S Taylor, Carl H Oliveros, Haw Chuan Lim, Cheryl L Haines, Mustafa A Rahman, Fred H Sheldon, 2011. Diversification of an endemic Southeast Asian genus: Phylogenetic relationships of the Spiderhunters (Aves: Nectariniidae). The Auk.
Abstract

Also this threads:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=202770&highlight=arachnothera
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=206512&highlight=multilocus
 
Last edited:
Thanks Peter!

So the taxonomical recommendations:

Hypogramma subsumed within Arachnothera.

A.affinis / A. modestra complex becomes 1) A. everetti (montane Borneo and NE lowland Borneo, 2) A. affinis (Java and Bali), and 3) A. modesta (Extreme southern Myanmar and Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, lowland Borneo except in the NE).

A. dilutor (Palawan) and A. flammifera (Southern Philippines) split from A. longirostra (as in two papers mentioned on this forum and already implemented on the Taxonomy in Flux list).

Nice!
 
Chlidonias said:
thanks from me too, those two linked articles were most helpful (it now means I can take the grey-breasted spiderhunter off my Sabah list and add on Mr. New Tick, the streaky-breasted spiderhunter; and in future won't need to worry about trying to distinguish the two whilst I'm in Sabah!)
Click to expand...

It looks like according to the latest IOC update that everetti is an accepted split from affinis, making your birds in Sabah Bornean Spiderhunter . (Different to any Streaky-breasteds you might have seen in Java maybe?)
 
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