More Babbler shuffling! (1 Viewer)

Ben Wielstra said:

Good stuff, the Black/Bare-headed 'Laughingthrush' must be the biggest surprise!

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Black Scimitar Babbler and Bare-headed Scimitar Babbler - totally awesome. Bill, tail, feeding habits, habitat of Black, mixed-flock feeding behaviour and especially the calls all make sense for this placement - really great stuff reading this!

Great. It looks that the result will be enthusiastic shuffling and changing of scientific and common names.

As the result, many publications will be useless, because of uncertainity what species they refer to. Matching species between old, new and intermediate names in different publications will be nightmare. And this is not a definite final situation yet.

It looks like scientific names of birds lost the reason of existence: unchanging, reliable identifiers of animals. Perhaps time to introduce a taxonomy-free identifier of species, maybe a number?

Pnoepygidae

TiF Update August 5:

Pnoepygidae is now referred to as the Cupwing family. The English last names have been changed to reflect this.

Acanthis said:

For my personal list I prefer three genera in Sylviidae:
Sylvia, Curruca and Melizophilus

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But not Atraphornis ?

http://jboyd.net/Taxo/List23.html#sylviidae

Zuccon et al. (2020). Type specimens matter: new insights on the systematics, taxonomy and nomenclature of the subalpine warbler (Sylvia cantillans) complex

https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean...innean/zlz169/5707596?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Abstract
We revise the taxonomy of the Sylvia cantillans complex, a group of phenotypically distinct warblers with mainly parapatric distributions around a large part of the Mediterranean basin. We redefine the species limits using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers and we objectively link available names to the genetically defined lineages by genotyping the surviving type specimens. In addition, the study of archival documents clarifies the exact composition of type series and provides further evidence for the identification of lost types. These results support the recognition of three species-level taxa: Moltoni’s warbler, Sylvia subalpina (north-central Italy, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics); the western subalpine warbler, S. iberiae (North Africa, Iberia, southern France and extreme north-west Italy); and the eastern subalpine warbler, S. cantillans, with subspecies S. cantillans cantillans (southern Italy, Sicily) and S. cantillans albistriata (Balkans, Greece, western Turkey).

I guess their French vernacular names will be applied like this :

Sylvia iberiae - Fauvette passerinette
Sylvia cantillans - Fauvette des Balkans
Sylvia subalpina - Fauvette de Moltoni

Tianlong Cai, Shimiao Shao, Jonathan D. Kennedy, Per Alström, Robert G. Moyle, Yanhua Qu, Fumin Lei & Jon Fjeldså. The role of evolutionary time, diversification rates and dispersal in determining the global diversity of a large radiation of passerine birds. Journal of Biogeography. First Published: 24 April 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13823

Abstract:

Aim
Variation in species diversity among different geographical areas may result from differences in speciation and extinction rates, immigration and time for diversification. An area with high species diversity may be the result of a high net diversification rate, multiple immigration events from adjacent regions, and a long time available for the accumulation of species (known as the ‘time‐for‐speciation effect’). Here, we examine the relative importance of the three aforementioned processes in shaping the geographical diversity patterns of a large radiation of passerine birds.

Location
Global.

Taxon
Babblers (Aves: Passeriformes).

Methods
Using a comprehensive phylogeny of extant species (~90% sampled) and distributions of the world's babblers, we reconstructed their biogeographical history and analysed the diversification dynamics. We examined how species richness correlates with the timing of regional colonization, the number of immigration events and the rate of speciation within all 13 geographical distribution regions.

Results
We found that babblers likely originated in the Sino‐Himalayan Mountains (SHM) in the early Miocene, suggesting a long time for diversification and species accumulation within the SHM. Regression analyses showed the regional diversity of babblers can be well explained by the timing of the first colonization within of these areas, while differences in rates of speciation or immigration have far weaker effects. Nonetheless, the rapid speciation of Zosterops during the Pleistocene has accounted for the increased diversification and accumulation of species in the oceanic islands.

Main Conclusions
Our results suggest that the global diversity patterns of babblers have predominantly been shaped by the time‐for‐speciation effect. Our findings also support an origin centred in tropical and subtropical parts of the SHM, with a cradle of recent diversification in the oceanic islands of the Indo‐Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, which provides new insights into the generation of global biodiversity hotspots.

Peter Kovalik said:

Tianlong Cai, Alice Cibois, Per Alström, Robert G. Moyle, Jonathan D. Kennedy, Shimiao Shao, Ruiying Zhang, Martin Irestedt, Per G.P. Ericson, Magnus Gelang, Yanhua Qu, Fumin Lei, Jon Fjeldså. Near-complete phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the world’s babbler (Aves: Passeriformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 12 October 2018.

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IOC Updates Diary June 29

Recognize Paradoxornithidae as a family separate from Sylviidae and revise sequence and genera within that family Cai et al. (2019) and modified by Penhallurick & Robson (2009). In addition to the parrotbill genera, Paradoxornithidae also includes: Myzornis, Moupinia, Lioparus, Chrysomma, Rhopophilus, Fulvetta, and Chamaea.

Revise sequence and genera in Sylviidae based primarily on Cai et al. (2019)

Peter Kovalik said:

IOC Updates Diary June 29

Revise sequence and genera in Sylviidae based primarily on Cai et al. (2019)

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Are the genetic and temporal divergence of the Phylloscopidae so deep to justify a generic split, Phylloscopus and Seicercus, like Sylvia and Curruca ?

I ask my question here because there is apparently no thread on the family Macrosphenidae, and I don't even know if this question has already been asked , but shouldn't we use Phlexis Hartlaub, 1866 instead of Cryptillas Oberholser, 1899, for Cryptillas victorini?

LeNomenclatoriste said:

shouldn't we use Phlexis Hartlaub, 1866

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Phlexis is preoccupied: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33794028

l_raty said:

Phlexis is preoccupied: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33794028

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I should have inquired better :-C

I should have inquired better

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Do not worry soon when we get our jetpacks someone will provide a registry of nomenclaural acts available on the internets so we no longer have to heft big books around.
Here is Harry Church Oberholser in 1899.
https://books.google.com/books?id=E...oECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=Phlexys Hartlaub&f=false .
Following his footnotes I went to page 218 of 1866 PZS but I did not find Phlexis Hartlaub? Edit I read 1 for 7 Phlexis is in the 1866 Ibis.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/258424#page/171/mode/1up .
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/90954#page/288/mode/1up .
Then Oberholser says Erichson used Phlexys. As Laurent has shown he did not. Then Olberholser says Agassiz emended Phlexys to Phlexis. He did not.
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105020#page/630/mode/1up .
What? As a first revisor I nominate Phlexys Oberholser as the proper genusas opposed to Cryptillas Oberholser

"Phlexys Erichson" apud Oberholser is a subsequent spelling of Phlexis Erichson (Coleoptera), though, not of Phlexis Hartlaub (Aves).
For readers with a non-US IP address, Oberholser 1899 is also at: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26299949

Marcaigh, F.Ó., D.J. Kelly, D.P. O'Connell, D. Dunleavy, A. Clark, N. Lawless, A. Karya, K. Analuddin, and N.M. Marples (2021)
Evolution in the understorey: the Sulawesi babbler Pellorneum celebense (Passeriformes: Pellorneidae) has diverged rapidly on land-bridge islands in the Wallacean biodiversity hotspot
Zoologischer Anzeiger (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1016/j.jcz.2021.07.006

Tropical islands hold great treasures of Earth's biodiversity, but these fragile ecosystems may be lost before their diversity is fully catalogued or the evolutionary processes that birthed it are understood. We ran comparative analyses on the ND2 and ND3 mitochondrial genes of the Sulawesi babbler Pellorneum celebense, an understorey bird endemic to Sulawesi and its continental islands, along with its morphology and song. Genetic, acoustic, and morphological data agree on multiple isolated populations, likely representing independently evolving lineages. The Sulawesi babbler shows signs of rapid speciation, with populations diverging between Central and Southeast Sulawesi, and even on land-bridge islands which were connected within the last few tens of thousands of years. The genetic divergence between Sulawesi babbler populations in this time has been around 33% of their divergence from sister species which have been isolated from Sulawesi for millions of years. This is likely facilitated by the Sulawesi babbler's understorey lifestyle, which inhibits gene flow and promotes speciation. Similar patterns of endemism are seen in Sulawesi's mammals and amphibians. This work highlights the undocumented biodiversity of a threatened hotspot, wrought by complex processes of speciation which interact with ecology and geology. Subspecific taxonomy has at times been controversial, but we argue that discrete populations such as these play a key role in evolution. Lying as they do at the heart of the biodiversity hotspot of Wallacea, these islands can reveal much about the evolution of biodiversity at all of its levels, from the gene to the ecosystem.

In the old French literature, I found the name Sylvia passerina and his author seems to be Temminck but I don't know the year of description. I would like to know the OD, its type locality and its current synonym (maybe subalpina). 🙂🙂

Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:

In the old French literature, I found the name Sylvia passerina and his author seems to be Temminck but I don't know the year of description. I would like to know the OD, its type locality and its current synonym (maybe subalpina). 🙂🙂

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This name was originally published as Motacilla passerina by Gmelin in 1789.
Stated type locality Gallia et Italia (France and Italy).
Temminck did not use it in this sense, but the name has most often been regarded as applying to the Garden Warbler. (The Passerinette of Buffon, 5, p. 123 / Pl. enl. 579.2, which Gmelin cited under his M. passerina, is what Motacilla borin Boddaert 1783 was based on.)

l_raty said:

This name was originally published as Motacilla passerina by Gmelin in 1789.
Stated type locality Gallia et Italia (France and Italy).
Temminck did not use it in this sense, but the name has most often been regarded as applying to the Garden Warbler. (The Passerinette of Buffon, 5, p. 123 / Pl. enl. 579.2, which Gmelin cited under his M. passerina, is what Motacilla borin Boddaert 1783 was based on.)

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I have the impression that the name Sylvia passerina was created independently by other authors (French or foreign), because we find this name in other works and the description given to it doesn't match with "Sylvia borin" but with a species of the complex "Curruca cantillans/subalpina" even if the authors cite "La Passerinette" of Buffon.

Sorry for all these link but:

Sylvia passerina under the synonymy of Sylvia subalpina

The same

Description start p. 138



Moreover, you know that Buffon made mistakes in his series of books (like the case of "La Chouette proprement dite", which was in fact the "Hibou des marais"), and authors have pointed out errors made by Buffon on "Les Fauvettes"

I also have this other impression that the authors were quoting each other, and some description (not linked here) look weird. I should have also checked if I didn't duplicate the same work.

Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:

I have the impression that the name Sylvia passerina was created independently by other authors (French or foreign), because we find this name in other works and the description given to it doesn't match with "Sylvia borin" but with a species of the complex "Curruca cantillans/subalpina" even if the authors cite "La Passerinette" of Buffon.

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Yes, I know, but it's always the same name, even if interpreted differently, and given a description that matches the interpretation of the author. If you follow the references given by the authors who used it for a subalpine warbler, you will always end at Gmelin's description.

l_raty said:

Yes, I know, but it's always the same name, even if interpreted differently, and given a description that matches the interpretation of the author. If you follow the references given by the authors who used it for a subalpine warbler, you will always end at Gmelin's description.

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It's a big mess because I was wondering if the name "Fauvette passerinette" had not been assigned to Curruca iberiae by default or arbitrarily because he needed a name and this one suited, or if the committees had taken into account the history of this name as well as the populations historically united under this name. I even wondered if "passerinette" should not be "subalpina" or "cantillans" instead "iberiae" as is the case today.

"Sommet de la tête, joues, nuque, dos, devant de la queue, scapulaires et petites couvertures des ailes d'un cendré couleur de plomb, inclinant au bleu; gorge, poitrine, flancs, régions anales et cuisses d'un roux de brique légèrement violet; ventre et abdomen d'un blanc plus ou moins pur; deux bandes blanches, en forme de moustaches, descendent de la base du bec jusqu'à la moitié du cou;"

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This is not even the description given by Gmelin and it is not even the description of Sylvia borin 🤪

Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:

This is not even the description given by Gmelin and it is not even the description of Sylvia borin 🤪

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Gmelin's description reads :

PASSERES. Motacilla.
[...]
passerina. 61. M. cinerea, subtus ex griseo alba, superciliis albidis, remigibus caudaque atris.

Curruca minor. Briss. av. 3. p. 374. n. 3.​

Borin. Aldr. orn. 2. p. 733. t. 734. Johnst. av. t. 44. Raj. av. p. 81. n. 10. Will. orn. p. 216.​

Passerinette. Buff. hist. nat. des ois. 5. p. 123. Pl. enl. n. 579. f. 2.​

Passerine. Warbler. Lath. syn. II. 2. p. 414. n. 4.​

Habitat in Gallia et Italia, hippolaide minor, 5¼ pollices longa, voce simplici, nidum ex herbis siccis in frutice humiliori prope terram struens, et 4 ova exalbida viridi-maculata pariens.​

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IOW :

passerina. 61. Ash-grey M[otacilla], greyish white below, with whitish eyebrows, with black remiges and tail.

"Curruca minor" in :
Briss. av. 3. p. 374. n. 3. = t.3 (1760) - Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés - Biodiversity Heritage Library

"Borin" in :
Aldr. orn. 2. p. 733. t. 734. = v.2 (1637) - Vlyssis Aldrovandi philosophi ac medici Bononiensis historiam naturalem in gymnasio Bononiensi profitentis, Ornithologiae, hoc est, De avibus historiae libri XII - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Johnst. av. t. 44. = pt.6 (1650) - Historiae naturalis de quadrupetibus libri - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Raj. av. p. 81. n. 10. = v.1-2 (1713) - Joannis Raii Synopsis methodica avium & piscium - Biodiversity Heritage Library
Will. orn. p. 216. = The ornithology of Francis Willughby of Middleton in the county of Warwick, esq - Biodiversity Heritage Library

"Passerinette" in :
Buff. hist. nat. des ois. 5. p. 123. = Histoire naturelle des oiseaux
Pl. enl. n. 579. f. 2. = t.6 - Planches enluminées d'histoire naturelle - Biodiversity Heritage Library

"Passerine Warbler" in :
Lath. syn. II. 2. p. 414. n. 4. = v.2:pt.2 (1783) - A general synopsis of birds - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Inhabits France and Italy, smaller than [Motacilla] hippolais, 5¼ inches long, with a simple voice, building a nest of dry grass in a low bush near the ground, and laying 4 whitish, green-spotted eggs.


Buffon says that "Passerinette" was the name of this bird in Provence. If we accept that this vernacular, in Provence, really applied to subalpine warblers, these were presumably iberiae.