Shortwings - Brachypteryx (1 Viewer)

Integrative taxonomy of the northern White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana taxa supports recognition of three species
Pamela C Rasmussen • Per Alstrom • Xia Canwei • Guoling Cheen • Magnus Gelang • Liu Yang

'The White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana sensu lato is widespread from the central Himalayas to southeastern mainland China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are recognised, several of which have recently been suggested to be treated as separate species based on differences in morphology and songs. We here analyse plumage, morphometrics, songs, two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and geographical distributions of the two mainland Asian taxa B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis and the Taiwanese B. m. goodfellowi. We conclude that these taxa differ congruently in morphology, songs and DNA. Brachypteryx m. goodfellowi is most divergent in plumage, and is sexually monomorphic, unlike the two others, although this taxon and B. m. sinensis are most similar in song and are sisters. We also found notable range extensions of B. m. sinensis and that this taxon and B. m. cruralis are in sympatry in Sichuan Province, China. We also found deep genetic divergence between the three mainland Asian/Taiwanese taxa and B. m. montana of Java, in combination with differences in plumage and songs. In conclusion, our data support a recent treatment of the three mainland Asian and Taiwanese taxa as three species, using different methodology. We agree that these three mainland taxa should be treated as specifically distinct from B. m. montana and other insular Sundaic taxa: Himalayan Shortwing B. cruralis, Chinese Shortwing B. sinensis and Taiwanese Shortwing B. goodfellowi.'

Thanks Des,
makes up for the Sualwesi Owl we're gonna lose!



A

I wonder why the authors restricted their study to mainland forms - the island taxa in the Sundas and Philippines are surely of at least as much interest?

DMW said:

I wonder why the authors restricted their study to mainland forms - the island taxa in the Sundas and Philippines are surely of at least as much interest?

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Haven't the Philippine taxa been covered in another recent paper? Three species IIRC.

cheers, alan

lewis20126 said:

Haven't the Philippine taxa been covered in another recent paper? Three species IIRC.

cheers, alan

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Alan,
Yes - it was over in 'Saxicolinae' thread.

LeNomenclatoriste said:

Christopher C. Kyriazis, Bushra Alam, Mark Wjodyla, Shannon Hackett, Peter Hosner, Herman L. Mays Jr.,
Lawrence R. Heaney, Sushma Reddy. Colonization and diversification of the White-browed Shortwing (Aves: Muscicapidae: Brachypteryx montana) in the Philippines. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . In Press, Accepted Manuscript. Available online 2 January 2018.

Abstract
Molecular phylogenetic approaches have greatly improved our knowledge of the pattern and process of biological diversification across the globe; however, many regions remain poorly documented, even for well-studied vertebrate groups. The Philippine archipelago, one of the least-studied ‘biodiversity hotspots’, is an ideal natural laboratory for investigating the mechanisms driving diversification in an insular and geologically dynamic setting. We investigated the history and geography of diversification of the Philippine populations of a widespread montane bird, the White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana). Leveraging dense archipelago-wide sampling, we generated a multi-locus genetic dataset (one nuclear and two mtDNA markers), which we analyzed using phylogenetic, population genetic, and coalescent-based methods. Our results demonstrate that Philippine shortwings 1) likely colonized the Philippines from the Sunda Shelf to Mindanao in the late Miocene or Pliocene, 2) diversified across inter-island barriers into three divergent lineages during the Pleistocene, 3) have not diversified within the largest island, Luzon, contrary to patterns observed in other montane taxa, and 4) colonized Palawan from the oceanic Philippines rather than from Borneo, challenging the assumption of Palawan functioning exclusively as a biogeographic extension of the Sunda Shelf. Additionally, our finding that divergent (c. 2.1 mya) lineages are coexisting in secondary sympatry on Mindanao without apparent gene flow suggests that the speciation process is likely complete for these shortwing lineages. Overall, these investigations provide insight into how topography and island boundaries influence diversification within remote oceanic archipelagos and echo the results of many other studies in demonstrating that taxonomic diversity continues to be underestimated in the Philippines.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790317304359

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Ah, right, thanks - I had missed that.

Brachypteryx montana

Authors: Per Alström, Pamela C. Rasmussen, Canwei Xia, Magnus Gelang, Yang Liu, Guoling Chen, Min Zhao, Yan Hao, Chao Zhao, Jian Zhao, Chengte Yao, James A. Eaton, Robert Hutchinson, Fumin Lei and Urban Olsson. Taxonomy of the White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana) complex on mainland Asia and Taiwan: an integrative approach supports recognition of three instead of one species. Avian Research20189:34.

Abstract:

Background

The White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are recognised, and several of these have recently been suggested to be treated as separate species based on differences in morphology and songs.

Methods

We here analyse plumage, morphometrics, songs, two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and geographical distributions of the two mainland Asian taxa B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis and the Taiwanese B. m. goodfellowi.

Results

We conclude that these differ congruently in morphology, songs and DNA. Male B. m. goodfellowi is the most divergent in plumage (sexually monomorphic, unlike the two others; male similar to female), and B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis differ in male plumage maturation. The song of B. m. cruralis is strongly divergent from the others, whereas the songs of B. m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are more similar to each other. Brachypteryx m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are sisters, with an estimated divergence time 4.1 million years ago (mya; 95% highest posterior distribution [HPD] 2.8–5.5 mya), and B. m. cruralis separated from these two 5.8 mya (95% HPD 4.1–7.5 mya). We also report notable range extensions of B. m. sinensis as well as sympatry between this taxon and B. m. cruralis in Sichuan Province, China. Brachypteryx m. montana from Java is found to be more closely related to Lesser Shortwing (B. leucophris) and Rusty-bellied Shortwing (B. hyperythra) than to the mainland Asian and Taiwanese taxa.

Conclusion

Our data support a recent proposal to treat the three mainland Asian and Taiwanese taxa as three species, separate from B. montana sensu stricto: B. cruralis (central Himalayas to south central China and south Vietnam), B. sinensis (north central to southeastern part of mainland China) and B. goodfellowi (Taiwan Island).

DMW said:

I wonder why the authors restricted their study to mainland forms - the island taxa in the Sundas and Philippines are surely of at least as much interest?

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Sample size, availability and time! Putting together a paper of that size takes a very long time unfortunately, so splitting it up as-and-when sample sizes allow make things easier.

If anyone obtains sound recordings of the various Philippine taxa - particularly though not well-known, ie on Negros, Panay, Mindoro and Palawan, then please send them over so they can be used in a future paper looking at the Philippine and Sundaic taxa.

James

James Eaton said:

Sample size, availability and time! Putting together a paper of that size takes a very long time unfortunately, so splitting it up as-and-when sample sizes allow make things easier.

James

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Nice to see detailed effort published confirming the considerably more rapid approach of the HBW/BirdLife Checklist :t:

https://www.hbw.com/species/himalayan-shortwing-brachypteryx-cruralis
https://www.hbw.com/species/chinese-shortwing-brachypteryx-sinensis
https://www.hbw.com/species/taiwan-shortwing-brachypteryx-goodfellowi

If you are a subscriber to HBW Alive you can get an awesome plate of all of these beauties, a most agreeable genus in the best family!

James Eaton said:

If anyone obtains sound recordings of the various Philippine taxa - particularly though not well-known, ie on Negros, Panay, Mindoro and Palawan, then please send them over so they can be used in a future paper looking at the Philippine and Sundaic taxa.

James

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Yep, more to do in this group in the Philippines: Philippine Shortwing B. poliogyna makes the grade in HBW/BL, but with the note that there may actually be two additional species within the archipelago: https://www.hbw.com/species/philippine-shortwing-brachypteryx-poliogyna

"Brachypteryx poliogyna Ogilvie-Grant, 1895, Lepanto, northern Luzon.
Hitherto treated as conspecific with B. montana (and with the other six species now separated from this “parent”), but differs from all except B. erythrogyna and B. montana in characters given under those species, and from latter two species by (in female) rusty or dark brown throat (2); dark greyish or dark brownish underparts (2); and either (vs montana) lack of chestnut on flanks and lower upperparts (3) or (vs erythrogyna) lack of bold rufous on breast to belly and parts of head (3) and lack of chestnut tail (2). However, race mindanensis, although grouping with S Philippine taxa in female coloration, has a highly distinctive song (4), in addition to which a population in South Cotabato, Mindanao, sings very differently and is elevationally parapatric (800–1000 m vs 1100 m upwards), thus seemingly a separate species (i.e. potentially at least three species in the archipelago). Seven subspecies recognized.

All the best,

Rob

punkbirder said:

Nice to see detailed effort published confirming the considerably more rapid approach of the HBW/BirdLife Checklist :t:

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Yes, this peer-review process really does get in the way sometimes, I definitely prefer field guide splits ;-)

punkbirder said:

If you are a subscriber to HBW Alive you can get an awesome plate of all of these beauties, a most agreeable genus in the best family!

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I agree - a superb genus, and a great subscription.

punkbirder said:

Yep, more to do in this group in the Philippines: Philippine Shortwing B. poliogyna makes the grade in HBW/BL, but with the note that there may actually be two additional species within the archipelago: https://www.hbw.com/species/philippine-shortwing-brachypteryx-poliogyna

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I strongly suspect based on a full bioacoustical analysis there will be a minimum of six species in the Philippines. Just taking time putting all the evidence together, unfortunately.

Cheers

James

Brachypteryx cruralis, B. sinensis, B. goodfellowi

Peter Kovalik said:

Authors: Per Alström, Pamela C. Rasmussen, Canwei Xia, Magnus Gelang, Yang Liu, Guoling Chen, Min Zhao, Yan Hao, Chao Zhao, Jian Zhao, Chengte Yao, James A. Eaton, Robert Hutchinson, Fumin Lei and Urban Olsson. Taxonomy of the White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana) complex on mainland Asia and Taiwan: an integrative approach supports recognition of three instead of one species. Avian Research20189:34.

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IOC Updates Diary Dec 16

Accept proposed splits of three mainland ‘White-browed Shortwings’

What's an 'integrative approach'?

Presumably looking at a wide range of factors (such as behavioural, evidence of sympatry etc) not just genetic (or morphological) difference.

Welsh Peregrine said:

Presumably looking at a wide range of factors (such as behavioural, evidence of sympatry etc) not just genetic (or morphological) difference.

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So PSC rather than BSC?

PSC is not more integrative than BSC. If anything, it's less ("eh, there's a diagnosable difference of some sort, so it's a species!").

awiner said:

PSC is not more integrative than BSC. If anything, it's less ("eh, there's a diagnosable difference of some sort, so it's a species!").

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Well I'be misunderstood it all these years then Adam.

I always thought that the BSC, put most value on DNA, with plumage, call and habitat preference, being less critical than to the PSC?

andyadcock said:

Well I'be misunderstood it all these years then Adam.

I always thought that the BSC, put most value on DNA, with plumage, call and habitat preference, being less critical than to the PSC?

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DNA is only incidentally relevant to the BSC. If there's a big enough DNA difference between two lineages, they'll necessarily be unable to interbreed, and thus they'll be considered two species under the BSC. But by this point, every other species concept would consider the two lineages different species as well.

On the other hand, two lineages could have diverged quite a long time ago and accumulated enough heritable differences that they'd be considered different species under the PSC or most other species concepts, but if they're still capable of interbreeding freely, they'd be considered the same species under the BSC.

The ebird checklist for Mindanao, Philippines, now includes Mindanao Shortwing (undescribed form) Brachypteryx (undescribed submontane Mindanao form). The list also includes White-browed Shortwing (Philippine) Brachypteryx montana [poliogyna Group] and White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana and so represents a split within Philippine shortwings. I presume it is based on Kyriazis et al 2018, though without yet recognising the other groups within Philippine Shortwings as distinct species.

dnsallen said:

The ebird checklist for Mindanao, Philippines, now includes Mindanao Shortwing (undescribed form) Brachypteryx (undescribed submontane Mindanao form). The list also includes White-browed Shortwing (Philippine) Brachypteryx montana [poliogyna Group] and White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana and so represents a split within Philippine shortwings. I presume it is based on Kyriazis et al 2018, though without yet recognising the other groups within Philippine Shortwings as distinct species.

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These aren't new. The Mindanao Shortwing was added in 2021 (though I can't find the complete 2021 update text anymore), for one.

awiner said:

These aren't new. The Mindanao Shortwing was added in 2021 (though I can't find the complete 2021 update text anymore), for one.

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The poliogyna Group was created in 2017 and Himalayan, Chinese, and Taiwan Shortwings were split from White-browed in 2019.