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Fringillidae (1 Viewer)

São Tomé Giant Seedeater

I think it is a good name but suspect that few 'authorities' or field guides will adopt a name with two descriptors, so would opt for the best single descriptor. On balance and given 'São Tomé Seedeater' is so anonymous, I would greatly prefer Giant Seedeater. This would mirror both Giant Sunbird and Giant Weaver so there is a neat symmetry there as well.

cheers, alan
 
.... a seedeater (Crithagra).

I would propose a new vernacular name that clearly indicates the three main features, i.e. that it is a seedeater, that it is the largest seedeater in the world owing to island gigantism, and that it is a single-island endemic on São Tomé. That would leave us with São Tomé Giant Seedeater. I realize that this is on the long side, but I don’t think that only “São Tomé” or “Giant” would be suitable.

But isn't seedeater Sporophila (Thraupidae)?

Though it's true that 'grosbeak' also has problems . . .
 
I would also prefer Sao Tome Giant Seedeater as the vernacular name Sao Tome Seedeater is already preoccupied for Crithagra rufobrunnea thomensis.
 
I think that the change of scientific name should be an argument for keeping the common name constant. If both change at the same time, it will soon be difficult for people (younger researchers) to find papers published with the older set of names. If one of them stay the same, the job of searching becomes easier.

Both seedeater and grosbeak has been used for groups not mentioned in the post by Martin, Sporophila mentioned by Michael and in grosbeaks look at for example Passerina caerulea.

Niels
 
Thanks for feedback. As suspected, there are plenty of opinions, pointing in most possible directions!

A few notes. Yes, there are other groups that are also referred to as seedeaters. And yes, Crithagra is a genus that comprises species that are called several things: seedeater, serin, canary, citril, siskin. Despite that, I think that grosbeak is particularly unfortunate, especially given that the species in question is the sister species to Príncipe Seedeater Crithagra rufobrunnea. For that reason, I also think that if the name is to be changed, it should end with seedeater.

I am aware that São Tomé Giant Seedeater includes two descriptors (that's the point!), and that that makes the name rather long (but mainly because the island name consists of two words).

As pointed out, changing it to São Tomé Seedeater would risk confusion, since the São Tomé population of Príncipe is sometimes called that. I would therefore agree that Giant Seedeater is the second best option, and it conforms to two other species endemic to São Tomé (and no other Gulf of Guinea islands): the Giant Sunbird and the Giant Weaver. Personally, I think it's unfortunate that their single-island endemism isn't indicated in their names too.

Cheers,
Martin
 
if the common name was changed (I don't see a real reason why it should), I think Giant Seedeater makes more sense than Sao Tome Giant Seedeater, because the latter implies there are other Giant Seedeaters.
 
Think keeping it as Sao Tome Grosbeak is the best as it's a well established name. 'Grosbeak' itself is already used for species in a number of different genera and families, as is 'Seedeater'.
 
Oops!
In the trees I think the species placed basally to the Crithagra group should be Linurgus olivaceus not Spinus olivaceus.
Also this is an African species not Palearctic
 
Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, Valentín Ruiz-del-Valle, Ester Muñiz, Jose Palacio-Gruber, Cristina Campos, Eduardo Gómez-Casado, Jose Manuel Martín-Villa, Ignacio Serrano-Vela. Major Histocompatibility Complex Allele Persistence in Eurasia and America in the Genus Carduelis (Spinus) During Million Years. The Open Ornithology Journal, 2017, 10.

[abstract]
 
Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, Valentín Ruiz-del-Valle, Ester Muñiz, Jose Palacio-Gruber, Cristina Campos, Eduardo Gómez-Casado, Jose Manuel Martín-Villa, Ignacio Serrano-Vela. Major Histocompatibility Complex Allele Persistence in Eurasia and America in the Genus Carduelis (Spinus) During Million Years. The Open Ornithology Journal, 2017, 10.

[abstract]

[pdf]
 
Crithagra concolor, C. rufobrunnea

M. Stervander, M. Melo, P. Jones, Bengt Hansson. Evolutionary history of an enigmatic island endemic, the giant São Tomé Grosbeak (Crithagra concolor), and its sympatric seedeater sister species. IOC, Vancouver 2018, Oral Presentation.

Abstract:

Closely related species on small isolated islands offer a unique opportunity to gain insights into the role of ecology and gene flow in the speciation process. We aimed to disentangle the speciation process of two endemic sister species occurring in full sympatry on the same oceanic island, São Tomé: the enigmatic and gigantic São Tomé Grosbeak Crithagra concolor (previously Neospiza) and the Príncipe Seedeater Crithagra rufobrunnea. The latter species also occurs on two neighboring islands in the Gulf of Guinea off the West African coast. We employed extensive Sanger sequencing (32 markers) and restriction sited-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq). Traditional phylogenetic methods grouped the sympatric populations on São Tomé as sisters, rendering the Príncipe seedeater paraphyletic. However, the RADseq-generated genome-wide panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed intriguing patterns. We found (1) sharing of alleles between the sympatric grosbeak and seedeater across 5% of their genomes; (2) that another 5% of the grosbeak genome displayed a distinct phylogenetic signal unique to the grosbeak; and (3) that the genomic segments of the latter category are situated more closely to genes than the shared segments, and notably overlap with several genes that determine bill morphology in birds. These results suggest two waves of colonization from the same mainland source, with initial genetic and phenotypic divergence in allopatry. Upon secondary contact, introgressive hybridization left a mosaic signature in the seedeater genome. The continued divergence may have been accelerated by disruptive selection on bill morphology.
 
Burrica Ridgway, 1887 (Proposed as a subgenus, under Carpodacus)
Richmond Index

Zuccon et al: "...for which we propose to resurrect the genus
name Haemorhous Swainson, 1837 (type species Fringilla purpurea Gmelin, 1789, gender masculine)..."
I just bumped into what looks disturbingly like a valid designation of Fringilla purpurea as the type of Erythrospiza Bonaparte 1830 [OD], by William Jardine (in Wilson, Bonaparte & Jardine) in 1832 [here]...
(8 years before Gray's usually accepted designation of Loxia erythrina Pallas; the species was an OINS, and was certainly eligible to become the type.)
 
Fringilla canariensis bakeri ssp. nov.

Illera, Juan Carlos; Rando, Juan Carlos; Rodriguez-Exposito, Eduardo; Hernandez, Mariano; Claramunt, Santiago; Martin, Aurelio. Acoustic, genetic, and morphological analysis of the Canarian common chaffinch complex (Fringilla coelebs ssp.) reveals a cryptic diversification process. Journal of Avian Biology, Accepted article.

Abstract:

The common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is the extant avian species with the highest level of differentiation across North Atlantic archipelagos. Such a degree of diversification has been traditionally recognised within the subspecies category, with one endemic subspecies occurring in Azores (F. c. moreletti), one in Madeira (F. c. maderensis), and three in the Canary Islands (F. c. canariensis, F. c. palmae and F. c. ombriosa). Recent genetic, acoustic, and sperm morphology studies informed us about the significant differentiation of the Gran Canaria population, which is traditionally included within F. c. canariensis subspecies. The goal of this study is to examine the similarity of the Canarian chaffinches, with the objective of determining if the Gran Canaria chaffinches represent an isolated and distinct population. In order to achieve this aim, we used a double approach: (1) we analysed new morphological and genetic data from the Canary Islands, and (2) we reviewed and synthesised the vast acoustic, morphological and genetic information available for these taxa in Macaronesia, with special emphasis on the Canary Islands. Genetic, acoustic, and sperm morphological data, and to a lesser extent phenotypic data, strongly support the existence of a cryptic taxon in Gran Canaria. Moreover, our findings also reveal an incipient speciation process on going in the Canary Islands, mostly driven by genetic differentiation. Overall, our synthesis suggests that individuals occurring in Gran Canaria should be considered as a novel taxon that we formally described as Fringilla canariensis bakeri ssp. nov.
 

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