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Corvoidea (1 Viewer)

Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:
Chlorochroa Stål, 1872 is protected, in theory. But, in my knowledge, Chlorochroa Sclater, 1862, was never published after 1899.
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I think Chlorochroa has only been used for a bird twice,
Chlorochroa Sclater 1862, as well as Chlorochroa "Sclat. 1862" Gray 1869 are both nomina nuda (no description or other indication provided; one single, undescribed species, vireonina, included). Unless someone else made the name available in another work, Chlorochroa Stål 1872 has no homonym and needs no protection of any kind.
 
Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:
Welcome Eurocephalidae
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Beware that it's not published yet, though.
(It will be published when the present "accepted manuscript" is replaced by the "final typeset article", according to the process described on the publisher's website. The publisher, there, is explicit that a "final typeset article" "may [...] contain changes" as compared to an "accepted manuscript", hence the latter is unquestionably a preliminary version of the work, and does not constitute published work within the meaning of the Code as per ICZN 9.9. See also ICZN 21.8.3.)
 
www.biorxiv.org

Species-specific dynamics may cause deviations from general biogeographical predictions – evidence from a population genomics study of a New Guinean endemic passerine bird family (Melampittidae).

New Guinea, the largest tropical island, is topographically complex and is dominated by a large central mountain range surrounded by multiple smaller isolated mountain regions along its perimeter. The island is biologically hyper-diverse and harbours an avifauna with many species found only...
www.biorxiv.org www.biorxiv.org

Abstract
New Guinea, the largest tropical island, is topographically complex and is dominated by a large central mountain range surrounded by multiple smaller isolated mountain regions along its perimeter. The island is biologically hyper-diverse and harbours an avifauna with many species found only there. The family Melampittidae is endemic to New Guinea and consists of two monotypic genera: Melampitta lugubris (Lesser Melampitta) and Megalampitta gigantea (Greater Melampitta). Both Melampitta species have scattered and disconnected distributions across New Guinea in the central mountain range and in some of the outlying ranges. While M. lugubris is common and found in most montane regions of the island, M. gigantaea is elusive and known from only six localities in isolated pockets on New Guinea with very specific habitats of limestone and sinkholes. In this project, we apply museomics to determine the population structure and demographic history of these two species. We re-sequenced the genomes of all seven known M. gigantaea samples housed in museum collections as well as 24 M. lugubris samples from across its distribution. By comparing population structure between the two species, we investigate to what extent habitat dependence, such as in M. gigantaea, may affect population connectivity. Phylogenetic and population genomic analyses, as well as acoustic differentiation, revealed that M. gigantaea consists of a single population in contrast to M. lugubris that shows much stronger population structure across the island. This work sheds new light on the mechanisms that have shaped the intriguing distribution of the two species within this family and is a prime example of the importance of museum collections for genomic studies of poorly known and rare species.


So, I'm in favor of recognizing four species instead of two:

Megalampitta gigantea (Rothschild, 1899) - Grande Mélampitte

Melampitta longicauda Mayr & Gilliard, 1952 - Mélampitte à longue queue
Melampitta lugubris Schlegel, 1871 - Petite Mélampitte (or Mélampitte lugubre)
Melampitta rostrata Ogilvie-Grant, 1913 - Mélampitte à gros bec
 
The recommendations in the study:

"The levels of divergence between the three major populations of M. lugubris are well above those at which ornithologists would normally assign species rank. Consequently, we tentatively propose that these three populations should be elevated to species rank, M. lugubris (Schlegel, 1871) in the Vogelkop region, Melampitta rostrata (Ogilvie-Grant, 1913) in the western central range and Melampitta longicauda (Mayr & Gilliard, 1952) in the eastern central range."
 
Markus Lagerqvist said:
The recommendations in the study:

"The levels of divergence between the three major populations of M. lugubris are well above those at which ornithologists would normally assign species rank. Consequently, we tentatively propose that these three populations should be elevated to species rank, M. lugubris (Schlegel, 1871) in the Vogelkop region, Melampitta rostrata (Ogilvie-Grant, 1913) in the western central range and Melampitta longicauda (Mayr & Gilliard, 1952) in the eastern central range."
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I hadn't even seen it !!
 
Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:

I finally found the article which, for me, can justify the separation of Daphoenositta into two genera Daphoenositta and Neositta (figure below)
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It would be good to have Neosittidae with Neositta in it, that's for sure - but only c. 5 million years of separation. Extra support for paraphyly of D. chrysoptera more noteworthy for me - and ancient divergence within Alaeadryas, Cinclosoma ajax, Pachycephala soror & Melanorectes. Interesting paper, thanks.
 
Mysticete said:
Not really sure how you interpret that figure to suggest they are different genera? What am I missing?
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For me, the 3 Daphoenositta look very distinct in plumage despite the small divergence time (I learned that divergence time doesn't actually mean anything) and the two main clades are reciprocally monophyletic. Finally, apart from genetic distance, there are no arguments in favor of a single genus just as there are no arguments in favor of two genera. In this case, it is purely arbitrary and the monophyly is not disturbed anyway.
 
andrew147 said:
It would be good to have Neosittidae with Neositta in it, that's for sure - but only c. 5 million years of separation. Extra support for paraphyly of D. chrysoptera more noteworthy for me - and ancient divergence within Alaeadryas, Cinclosoma ajax, Pachycephala soror & Melanorectes. Interesting paper, thanks.
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They're only mtDNA data though: I'd prefer more genetic back-up before splitting up Varied Sittella. On plumage, these clusters still do not make a lot of sense!
 
Xenospiza said:
They're only mtDNA data though: I'd prefer more genetic back-up before splitting up Varied Sittella. On plumage, these clusters still do not make a lot of sense!
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Agree we need more data before anything official happens but I enjoy the speculation :)

Plumage-wise, if we ignore chrysoptera, there is a pattern which also makes biogeographical sense.

Western black-capped group
Eastern white-headed group
Northern (Papuan/Queensland) striated group

Chrysoptera appears twice, in both the western & eastern groups, and is morpholocially and geographically intermediate ...does this imply hybrid origin?

Also, what is the significance of orange-wingedness? It is a feature of southerly populations. Some climate-related influence?

On a separate matter, the cladogram for grey/rufous Pachycephala suggests that multiple extra species should be recognised, mostly island endemics, none of which seem controversial to me e.g.
  • P. meeki
  • P. xanthetraea
  • P. lugubris
 
Bonaccorso & al (2009) have suggested to raised Cyanolyca viridicyanus jolyaea to species but they don't proposed a name. Has an English name been proposed for this taxon that I could translate?
 
Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:
Bonaccorso & al (2009) have suggested to raised Cyanolyca viridicyanus jolyaea to species but they don't proposed a name. Has an English name been proposed for this taxon that I could translate?
Click to expand...

v.13:pt.7 (1934) - Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History - Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Biodiversity Heritage Library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
www.biodiversitylibrary.org www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Oops.
 

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