Australo-Papuan robins (2 Viewers)

Pacific Robin

Richard Klim said:

Kearns, Joseph, White, Austin, Baker, Driskell, Malloy & Omland (in press). Norfolk Island Robins are a distinct endangered species: ancient DNA unlocks surprising relationships and phenotypic discordance within the Australo-Pacific Robins. Conserv Genet. [abstract]

• Norfolk Island Robin Petroica [multicolor] multicolor (monotypic)
• Pacific Island Robin Petroica [multicolor] pusilla

Boles 2007 (HBW 12).

[See also: Scarlet Robin / Pacific Robin.]

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TiF Update January 8

Based on Kearns et al. (2016), the Pacific Robin, Petroica multicolor, has been split into Pacific Robin, Petroica pusilla and the monotypic Norfolk Robin, Petroica multicolor.

Petroica robins

Kearns, A., Joseph, L., Thierry, A., Malloy, J., Cortes-Rodriguez, M.N., and Omland, K. Rapid diversification across the Australo-Pacific region and secondary upstream colonization of Australia: insights from complete species sampling of Petroica robins. In revision at Emu – Austral Ornithology

García-Navas, V., Rodríguez-Rey, M. and Christidis, L. (2017), Ecological opportunity and ecomorphological convergence in Australasian robins (Petroicidae). J Avian Biol. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/jav.01552

Abstract:

Ecological theories of adaptive radiation predict that ecological opportunity (EO) stimulates cladogenesis through entry into a novel environment and/or release of competition pressures.

Due to its dynamic paleoclimatic and geological history, the Australo-Papuan region constitutes an opportune scenario to study patterns of diversification in relation to the colonization of new ecological niches. Here, we employ a comparative framework using the Australasian robins (Petroicidae) as a model system to test whether the diversification of this bird family fulfils a niche-filling process as predicted by the EO model, and to test whether the observed morphological similarity is described by a pattern of phylogenetic niche conservatism (PNC) or convergence. Although we detected an early-burst, we did not find a slowdown in speciation or morphological evolution as expected in a niche-filling scenario. Divergence in tarsus length and tail length (PC1) was consistent with a multi-peak model, in which PC1 represents a convergent trait among distantly related clades sharing the same foraging strategy. Our study thus shows that convergence rather than PNC seems to explain the existence of morphological similarity across independent lineages in the Petroicidae. We also found a low level of PNC regarding annual variations in temperature and precipitation, which is in agreement with the hypothesis that diversification within the Petroicidae involved repeated radiations. We suggest two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses to explain the overall lack of density-dependent cladogenesis. First, the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity of this region may have generated a pattern of repeated ecological opportunity over time and, second, this family may not yet have reached equilibrium diversity.

Kearns, A.M., Joseph, L., Thierry, A., Malloy, J.F.+, Cortes-Rodriguez, M.N., & Omland, K.E. Diversification of Petroica robins across the Australo-Pacific region: first insights into the phylogenetic affinities of New Guinea’s highland robin species. Emu-Austral Ornithology. in press

Abstract:

Complex spatial and temporal phylogenetic patterns have emerged among Pacific Island radiations
and their Australian and New Guinean congeners. We explore the diversification of Australo-Pacific
Petroica robins using the first phylogeny with complete species-level sampling of the genus. In doing
so we provide the first assessment of the phylogenetic affinities of two poorly known species with
highly restricted ranges in the highlands of New Guinea – Subalpine Robin (Petroica bivittata) and
Snow Mountain Robin (P. archboldi). Our analyses suggest that Petroica underwent an initial diversification
during the Plio-Pleistocene that established four major lineages restricted to New Zealand
(four species), Australia (four species), New Guinea (two species) and Pacific Islands + Australia (three
or four species). All lineages appear to have undergone species diversification in situ with the
exception of the Pacific Islands + Australia lineage where long-distance over-water dispersal must
be invoked to explain the placement of the Red-capped Robin (P. goodenovii) within the iconic Pacific
robin species complex (P. multicolor + pusilla). Two scenarios fit this biogeographic pattern: (1) a
single ‘upstream’ colonisation of mainland Australia from a Pacific Island ancestor resulting in P.
goodenovii, or (2) two or three ‘downstream’ colonisations from a mainland Australian or New
Guinean ancestor resulting in the distinct Pacific robin lineages that occur in the south-west Pacific.
Overall, biogeographic patterns in Petroica suggest that long-distance dispersal and island colonisations
have been rare events in this group, which contrasts with other Australo-Pacific radiations that
show evidence for repeated long-distance dispersals and multiple instances of secondary sympatry
on islands across the Pacific.

Petroica robins

Kearns, A.M., Malloy, J.F., Gobbert, M.K., Thierry, A., Joseph, L., Driskell, A.C., Omland, K.E., Nuclear introns help unravel the diversification history of the Australo-Pacific Petroica robins, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.024

Abstract:

Australo-Pacific Petroica robins are known for their striking variability in sexual plumage coloration. Molecular studies in recent years have revised the taxonomy of species and subspecies boundaries across the southwest Pacific and New Guinea. However, these studies have not been able to resolve phylogenetic relationships within Petroica owing to limited sampling of the nuclear genome. Here, we sequence five nuclear introns across all species for which fresh tissue was available. Nuclear loci offer support for major geographic lineages that were first inferred from mtDNA. We find almost no shared nuclear alleles between currently recognized species within the New Zealand and Australian lineages, whereas the Pacific robin radiation has many shared alleles. Multilocus coalescent species trees based on nuclear loci support a sister relationship between the Australian lineage and the Pacific robin radiation—a node that is poorly supported by mtDNA. We also find discordance in support for a sister relationship between the similarly plumaged Rose Robin (P. rosea) and Pink Robin (P. rodinogaster). Our nuclear data complement previous mtDNA studies in suggesting that the phenotypically cryptic eastern and western populations of Australia’s Scarlet Robin (P. boodang) are genetically distinct lineages at the early stages of divergence and speciation.

IOC Updates Diary May 8

Revise generic classification of Petroicidae

Taxonomic Updates

Peneoenanthe pulverulenta
Mango Robin
Peneothello pulverulenta
PHY, TAX Change of genus follows Christidis et al 2011, H&M4, HBW
Ooops, should be Mangrove Robin

Peter Kovalik said:

IOC Updates Diary May 8

Revise generic classification of Petroicidae

Taxonomic Updates

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Some taxonomic revision goes against the results obtained by Garcia-Navas and al. (2017)

Every species its own genus? Now that's helpful...

sicklebill said:

Peneoenanthe pulverulenta
Mango Robin
Peneothello pulverulenta
PHY, TAX Change of genus follows Christidis et al 2011, H&M4, HBW
Ooops, should be Mangrove Robin

Click to expand...

Thanks
f

Kearns, A. M., Joseph, L., Austin, J. J., Driskell, A. C., & Omland, K. E. Complex mosaic of sexual dichromatism and monochromatism in Pacific robins results from both gains and losses of elaborate coloration. Journal of Avian Biology. First published:11 February 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.02404

Abstract:

Pacific robins exhibit one of the most complex range‐wide mosaics of sexual dichromatism and monochromatism. The evolutionary origins of this geographic mosaic remain poorly understood despite long‐standing interest from ornithologists, and its influential role in the development of Ernst Mayr's theories on speciation and the Biological Species Concept. One factor limiting our understanding of the evolution of sexual plumage variation in Pacific robins is a lack of well‐resolved taxon boundaries and phylogenetic relationships in the group. Here, we use primarily historical museum specimens to obtain dense sampling of mtDNA, nuclear DNA, plumage color and morphometrics from all named taxa in the radiation in order to infer taxon boundaries and relationships. We use these data to test hypotheses about colonization history, plumage evolution and reduced island dichromatism. Our data show that the Pacific robin radiation comprises four distinct lineages, which warrant recognition as separate species – the previously recognized Norfolk robin P. multicolor and red‐capped robin P. goodenovii, and two new species we propose to name: “Solomon robin” P. polymorpha Mayr, 1934 for the populations on Solomon and Bougainville Islands, and “Mayr's robin” P. pusilla Peale, 1848 (in honor of Ernst Mayr's detailed work on the southwest Pacific robins) for the populations on Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa. Our data suggest that the common ancestor of the entire Pacific robin radiation was most likely sexually dichromatic and that the radiation‐wide mosaic of sexual plumage color arose via repeated losses of elaborate plumage in males and gains of elaborate plumage in females on separate islands.

Peter Kovalik said:

Kearns, A. M., Joseph, L., Austin, J. J., Driskell, A. C., & Omland, K. E. Complex mosaic of sexual dichromatism and monochromatism in Pacific robins results from both gains and losses of elaborate coloration. Journal of Avian Biology. First published:11 February 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.02404

Abstract:

Pacific robins exhibit one of the most complex range‐wide mosaics of sexual dichromatism and monochromatism. The evolutionary origins of this geographic mosaic remain poorly understood despite long‐standing interest from ornithologists, and its influential role in the development of Ernst Mayr's theories on speciation and the Biological Species Concept. One factor limiting our understanding of the evolution of sexual plumage variation in Pacific robins is a lack of well‐resolved taxon boundaries and phylogenetic relationships in the group. Here, we use primarily historical museum specimens to obtain dense sampling of mtDNA, nuclear DNA, plumage color and morphometrics from all named taxa in the radiation in order to infer taxon boundaries and relationships. We use these data to test hypotheses about colonization history, plumage evolution and reduced island dichromatism. Our data show that the Pacific robin radiation comprises four distinct lineages, which warrant recognition as separate species – the previously recognized Norfolk robin P. multicolor and red‐capped robin P. goodenovii, and two new species we propose to name: “Solomon robin” P. polymorpha Mayr, 1934 for the populations on Solomon and Bougainville Islands, and “Mayr's robin” P. pusilla Peale, 1848 (in honor of Ernst Mayr's detailed work on the southwest Pacific robins) for the populations on Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa. Our data suggest that the common ancestor of the entire Pacific robin radiation was most likely sexually dichromatic and that the radiation‐wide mosaic of sexual plumage color arose via repeated losses of elaborate plumage in males and gains of elaborate plumage in females on separate islands.

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That should be scarlet robin (P. boodang) in abstract, not red-capped robin (P. goodenovii)...?

IOC Updates Diary Mar 30

Post proposed split of Solomons Robin Petroica polymoprha from Pacific (Mayr’s) Robin P. pusilla.

Peter Kovalik said:

IOC Updates Diary Mar 30

Post proposed split of Solomons Robin Petroica polymoprha from Pacific (Mayr’s) Robin P. pusilla.

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IOC Updates Diary July 5

Split Solomons Robin Petroica polymorpha from Pacific Robin Petroica pusilla (Kearns et al. 2015; Kearns et al. 2020). Includes subspecies septentrionalis, kulambangrae, dennisi, and polymorpha.

I use Labeothello for Peneothello bimaculata according to the eleventh volume of the Peter's Checklist of the Birds, citing Poecilodryas sylvia (now subspecies of bimaculata) as type species with this OD "Iredale, 1956, Birds New Guinea, 2, p. 22". However, I find very few information on this name, and even less the original publication. Is it possible to have information on the genus Labeothello ?

Labeothello Iredale 1956
OD: Iredale T. 1956. Birds of New Guinea. Vol. 2. Australiana Society, Georgian House, Melbourne.; p. 22; Google Books snippets: https://books.google.com/books?id=9V4MAQAAIAAJ&dq=labeothello
Originally included nominal species: Labeothello bimaculatus (with sspp sylvia, vicarius, [nigriventris – “perhaps”])
Type: Poecilodryas sylvia Ramsay 1883 (syn. Myiolestes bimaculatus Salvadori 1874) by original designation (see https://books.google.com/books?redir_esc=y&id=9V4MAQAAIAAJ&q="new+generic+term").
OD of type species: Ramsay EP. 1883. Contributions to the zoology of New Guinea. Part VII. Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, 8: 15-29.; p. 19; https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6864493

Labeothello Iredale, 1956, Birds of New Guinea, is first aired in Vol. I, page xv, in a list of new names introduced in the book (i.e. "VOLUME II [page] 22 LABEOTHELLO gen. nov. Type, sylvia Ramsay 1883 (Poecilodryas).").

Thanks to both of you

Thanks James and Laurent very obscure! I did find the almost original description of vicaria:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/186230#page/148/mode/1up .

von Seth, J., T. van der Valk, E. Lord, H. Sigeman, R.-A. Olsen, M. Knapp, O. Kardailsky, F. Robertson, M. Hale, D. Houston, E. Kennedy, L. Dalén, K. Norén, M. Massaro, B.C. Robertson, and N. Dussex (2022)
Genomic trajectories of a near-extinction event in the Chatham Island black robin
BMC Genomics 23: 747
doi: 10.1186/s12864-022-08963-1

Background
Understanding the micro-evolutionary response of populations to demographic declines is a major goal in evolutionary and conservation biology. In small populations, genetic drift can lead to an accumulation of deleterious mutations, which will increase the risk of extinction. However, demographic recovery can still occur after extreme declines, suggesting that natural selection may purge deleterious mutations, even in extremely small populations. The Chatham Island black robin (Petroica traversi) is arguably the most inbred bird species in the world. It avoided imminent extinction in the early 1980s and after a remarkable recovery from a single pair, a second population was established and the two extant populations have evolved in complete isolation since then. Here, we analysed 52 modern and historical genomes to examine the genomic consequences of this extreme bottleneck and the subsequent translocation.

Results
We found evidence for two-fold decline in heterozygosity and three- to four-fold increase in inbreeding in modern genomes. Moreover, there was partial support for temporal reduction in total load for detrimental variation. In contrast, compared to historical genomes, modern genomes showed a significantly higher realised load, reflecting the temporal increase in inbreeding. Furthermore, the translocation induced only small changes in the frequency of deleterious alleles, with the majority of detrimental variation being shared between the two populations.

Conclusion
Our results highlight the dynamics of mutational load in a species that recovered from the brink of extinction, and show rather limited temporal changes in mutational load. We hypothesise that ancestral purging may have been facilitated by population fragmentation and isolation on several islands for thousands of generations and may have already reduced much of the highly deleterious load well before human arrival and introduction of pests to the archipelago. The majority of fixed deleterious variation was shared between the modern populations, but translocation of individuals with low mutational load could possibly mitigate further fixation of high-frequency deleterious variation.