Winkler, H., A. Gamauf, F. Nittinger & E. Haring, 2013. Relationships of Old World woodpeckers (Aves: Picidae) – new insights and taxonomic implications. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 116: 69-86.
Abstract: The paper presents a phylogeny of Old World woodpeckers based on mitochondrial (cytochrome b, 12S rRNA). It complements published phylogenies of this group in several important aspects. A species that was formerly treated as part of the core group of pied woodpeckers of the genus Dendrocopos, turned out to be the closest relative of the Eurasian lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor), itself a representative of an American radiation. We identified the brown-fronted woodpecker, a bird of the Himalayan foothills, as the closest relative of the predominantly European middle spotted woodpecker. The latter is a close relative of the yellow-crowned woodpecker, widely distributed over India and other parts of South Asia. We include these three species in the genus Leiopicus (with species medius, auriceps, and mahrattensis). Further taxonomic recommendations resulted from analyses based on a short fragment of the cytochrome b gene. Among these is the inclusion of the genus Mulleripicus into Dryocopus that is represented both in the New and Old World. We present further details of our suggested taxonomy that covers the whole family Picidae in Appendix 2. Open questions concern, among others, the exact phylogenetic relationships of the two African woodpecker clades with Asian woodpeckers, and the phylogeographical and taxonomic structure of the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and its closest allies.