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Thraupidae (2 Viewers)

Melanie said:
Thanks for the information. So this species is known since 1883?
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Perhaps known at the time and then forgotten for a while. The HBW Alive account for Sicalis lebruni states the following (note the word "recently"):

What originally appeared to be an isolated population of present species was recently discovered in EC Argentina, in Sierra de la Ventana (S Buenos Aires); later suggested to be some form of Sicalis auriventris; however, nesting habits are quite different from both species (see Family Text); further investigation needed.
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Liam
 
Is there an ebook available from the publication: Guía Audiornis de las aves de Argentina, fotos y sonidos, identificación por características contrapuestas y marcas sobre imágenes (new edition)?
 
Until now never heard of this little mountain range. I wonder if there are any other local endemics waiting to be found.
Note to Nutcracker. The range has spreading Pinus bungeana on it according to Wikipedia. Weird!!
 
Could well be, yep (and shows the importance of definable accurate vernacular names). In the past I'd have corrected it, but it got to be such a thankless task with ijwits reinserting rubbish like this, that I gave up and now just let English wikipedia rot. It'll be interesting to see if it gets corrected by anyone else as a result of this thread.
 
Based on this thread I decided that a "citation needed" tag would be appropriate, and I went to do that, only to find that somebody else (an editor named "Spizaetus") had very recently had the same idea.
 
Nutcracker said:
Found a pic on Panoramio from the site; they're Pinus halepensis (invasive from S Europe) :t:
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Oh wow! The photo does look a bit like northern Spain. There are so many pine invasions now in South America I suspect in a few thousand years the local Hooded Siskins will develop crossed mandibles! :eek!:
 
Acanthis said:
Oh wow! The photo does look a bit like northern Spain. There are so many pine invasions now in South America I suspect in a few thousand years the local Hooded Siskins will develop crossed mandibles! :eek!:
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And a dozen or so call types for future taxonomists to argue about.
 
Sicalis holmbergi sp. nov.

Peter Kovalik said:
López-Lanús, B. 2017. Una nueva especie de jilguero (Thraupidae: Sicalis) endémica de las Sierras de Ventania, pampa bonaerense, Argentina. [A new species of endemic Yellow-Finch (Thraupidae: Sicalis) from the mountains of the Ventania range, Buenos Aires, Argentina]. In pp. 475-497: López-Lanús, B. Guía Audiornis de las aves de Argentina, fotos y sonidos; identificación por características contrapuestas y marcas sobre imágenes. Second Edition. Audiornis Producciones. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 524pages.

With thanks to Tom Schulenberg and Bernabé López-Lanús.
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HBW Alive New Taxa Ventania Yellow-finch
 
Peter Kovalik said:
López-Lanús, B. 2017. Una nueva especie de jilguero (Thraupidae: Sicalis) endémica de las Sierras de Ventania, pampa bonaerense, Argentina. [A new species of endemic Yellow-Finch (Thraupidae: Sicalis) from the mountains of the Ventania range, Buenos Aires, Argentina]. In pp. 475-497: López-Lanús, B. Guía Audiornis de las aves de Argentina, fotos y sonidos; identificación por características contrapuestas y marcas sobre imágenes. Second Edition. Audiornis Producciones. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 524pages.
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Proposal (748) to SACC

Recognize Sicalis holmbergi as a new species

Nacho Areta and Mark Pearman, April 2017
we recommend a NO vote
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SACC Proposal 730

Originally Posted by Richard Klim View Post
Burns, Unitt & Mason 2016. A genus-level classification of the family Thraupidae (Class Aves: Order Passeriformes). Zootaxa 4088(3): 329–354. [abstract]
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Peter Kovalik said:
Proposal (730) to SACC

Revise generic limits in the Thraupidae
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730.07. Resurrect Pseudospingus for Hemispingus xanthophthalmus and H. verticalis. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.08. Merge two species of Hemispingus (H. rufosuperciliaris and H. goeringi) and the two species of Compsospiza (C. garleppi and C. baeri) into a more restricted Poospiza (type = P. nigrorufa) than currently recognized. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.09. Recognize newly named Kleinothraupis for four species of Hemispingus (atropileus, calophrys, reyi, and parodii). PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.10. Resurrect Sphenopsis for Hemispingus melanotis and H. frontalis. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.11. Merge Pyrrhocoma ruficeps and Hemispingus superciliaris into Thlypopsis. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.13. Recognize newly named, monotypic Castanozoster for Poospiza thoracica. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.14. Recognize Microspingus for Hemispingus trifasciatus and merge Poospiza cabanisi, P. lateralis, P. erythrophrys, P. alticola, P. torquata, P. cinerea, and P. melanoleuca into Microspingus. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.15. Merge Oreomanes into Conirostrum. PASSED (22 April 2017)
730.19. Resurrect Ixothraupis for Tangara punctata, T. varia, T. rufigula, T. xanthogastra, and T. guttata. PASSED (22 April 2017)

730.03. Merge Saltatricula into Saltator. DID NOT PASS
 
A new genus for the Blue-and-yellow Tanager (Aves: Passeriformes): a suggested adjustment to the classification of the Thraupidae


VÍTOR DE Q. PIACENTINI

Abstract

Recent DNA-based studies have found that the genus Thraupis, as traditionally defined, is polyphyletic, with the Blue-and-yellow Tanager (historically treated as Thraupis bonariensis) being sister to the Fawn-breasted Tanager (Pipraeidea melanonota). As a result, most subsequent classifications lumped both species under a single genus, Pipraeidea. Here I show that both species differ markedly in plumage, morphology, voice, and behavior, each of them being more similar to a distantly related species than to each other. As such, I argue that the treatment of the Blue-and-yellow Tanager in Pipraeidea creates an undiagnosable genus contrasting greatly with the generic limits commonly applied to the tanagers. To avoid this situation, I propose the recognition of a new genus, Remsenornis gen. nov., for the Blue-and-yellow Tanager.


http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4276.2.11

Calalp said:
Rauenia ”Type by original designation: Loxia bonariensis Gmelin, 1789” (J. Mlíkovský, 2012) p.122 (here)
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Thus, Rauenia Wolters, 1980. In short, a waste of time.
 
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From here

Remsenornis gen. nov.

Type species: Loxia bonariensis Gmelin, 1789 (traditionally treated as Thraupis bonariensis or, most recently, Pipraiedea bonariensis).

Included taxa: Remsenornis bonariensis darwinii ( Bonaparte, 1838), R. b. compositus ( Zimmer, 1944), R. b. schulzei ( Brodkorb, 1938) and R. b. bonariensis ( Gmelin, 1789).

Diagnosis. The adult male plumage of Remsenornis differs from all other genera of the Thraupidae by the combination of a well-defined blue hood with a bright yellow or orange-yellow rump. It further differs from Pipraeidea, its sister lineage, in all points highlighted above.

Etymology. I am happy to name this new genus after James V. "Van" Remsen, Jr., in recognition of his contribution to Neotropical and, especially, South American ornithology. Van has helped form the careers of many ornithologists over the years, but his influence has reached far beyond his formal students, which includes, for example, my views on the curation and care of bird collections. My ideas on generic limits of birds and the meaning and value of monospecific genera also overlap broadly with Van’s, and such ideas are particularly relevant to this paper.

Gender: masculine.

Remarks. The establishment of a monospecific genus for the Blue-and-yellow Tanager may be questioned on the grounds that monospecific/monotypic genera do not convey information regarding systematic relationships when cited in a linear sequence (or when the species are presented in a book). One of the many flaws of such criticism stems from a misconception of the true goals of a linear sequence, coupled with a limited view of the reasons behind the existence of monospecific genera. It is worth keeping in mind the distinction between mono/ polyspecific (i.e. single/many species) and mono/polytypic (i.e. single/many “forms” [taxa]).

First, it should be clear that a linear sequence of taxa is not intended to represent sistership of species (that is left to phylogenies, of course). Linear sequences are a simple and succinct way to present taxonomic diversity in a text. Second, a monospecific genus may result from different processes: (1) the existence of a very distinct lineage/ species that may have undergone strong evolutionary pressures (unlike its sister lineage/species); (2) it may result from extinction(s) of closely related/sister lineages/species; (3) it may reflect our ignorance of the existence of other congeneric species, e.g. Doliornis was treated as a monotypic genus for over a century, until the discovery of a second Doliornis species; (4) it may reflect a temporal trend on the classification of the taxa included in it: for instance, Remsenornis is here defined as a monospecific but polytypic (i.e., with more than one “form”[taxon]) genus which may become polyspecific when any of the subspecies is elevated to species level—a likely fate for R. b. darwinii once adequate data becomes available, and a treatment already adopted by del Hoyo et al. (2016). Some of the points raised above on the significance of monospecific genera were also presented by Isler et al. (2013).

In any event, the treatment proposed here is far from being a novelty within the Thraupidae. Currently, there are at least nine other cases of two sister species being treated in two distinct, monospecific genera (following Burns et al. 2016): Orchesticus vs. Parkerthraustes; Sericossypha vs. Compsothraupis; Chlorophanes vs. Iridophanes; Eucometis vs. Trichothraupis; Piezorina vs. Xenospingus; Urothraupis vs. Nephelornis; Spodiornis vs. Acanthidops; Idiopsar vs. Chionodacryon; and Diuca vs. Gubernatrix. The latter pair is even known to hybridize in the wild, which is not the case for Pipraeidea melanonota and Remsenornis bonariensis.

Despite the subjectivity of generic limits, the recognition of Remsenornis brings more consistency to classification of the Thraupidae—either the traditional or the one proposed by Burns et al. (2016), which I strongly support. Additional minor adjustments may still be proposed, but I believe we are close to a robust and—hopefully—stable classification of the tanagers.
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thomasdonegan said:
I don't gamble usually, but if anyone wants a wager on SACC rejecting this new genus, I'll take any money at any odds!
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When I think that several birds species expect a new generic name. :-@
 
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LeNomenclatoriste said:
Thus, Rauenia Wolters, 1980. In short, a waste of time.
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Thank you very much for your kind words. Well, I'll respectfully disagre with your [IRONY] well-formed and highly qualified [/IRONY] verdict. In fact, I was another one who has overlooked the (obscure?) name by Wolters. Too bad. But, at least from my point of view, I can assure that writing the paper was not a waste of time -- quite to the contrary, I enjoyed a lot, including the time spent in museums and in the field. Anyway, my main point is about taxonomy and systematics, and applies regardless of the valid name. If you want to read the whole paper, let me know. There is a kind of quick review on many ecological data for both genera, and even a subliminal suggestion of morphological convergence. Although it is a simple paper, a good researcher may find a good use of what is presented in there. But I guess all that may be a waste of time for name collectors, right? Looking forward to reading your next publication. ;)
Kind regards,
Vitor Piacentini
 

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