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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richard Klim" data-source="post: 1650193" data-attributes="member: 773">BNA OnlineA new version (Page et al, 18 Nov 2009) of the BNA Online species account for Charadrius alexandrinus has been posted, which acknowledges recent work:"The family Charadriidae, the plovers and lapwings, is well supported and is one of the core groups in the shorebird (Charadriiformes) radiation. Within this family, the genus Charadrius is also well defined. A mitochondrial DNA-based phylogeny of thirteen members of the genus (Joseph et al. 1999) found C. alexandrinus to be sister to C. ruficapillus (the Red-capped Plover of Australia), and these two species, along with C. marginatus (the White-fronted Plover of sub-Saharan Africa) and C. javanicus (the Javan Plover of Java), form a superspecies (Wiersma 1996). On the basis of its geographic distribution and morphology, C. peronii (the Malaysian Plover of Indonesia and the Philippines) may also be an allospecies in this superspecies complex. Species limits within this superspecies are open to debate. For example, Wiersma (1996) said of C. javanicus that it "may well not merit full species status" and noted that it is "often" treated conspecific with C. alexandrinus. At the other extreme, Howard and Moore (1994) treated C. a. occidentalis as a species despite its strong morphological similarity to C. a. nivosus (see also Sibley and Monroe 1990). Species limits of C. a. dealbatus are being explored currently (Kennerley et al. 2008), and it is possible that this taxon will be accord species status once its breeding range and behavior are elucidated fully. It is also possible that taxa in the Old World and New World will be split from each other, a Kentish Plover vs. Snowy Plover split. Ridgley and Greenfield (2001) remarked that "American birds are perhaps better treated as a distinct species (C. nivosus) separate from those of the Old World; their calls appear to differ," but provided no data in support. Küpper et al. (2009), however, provided data on molecular (mtDNA, a nuclear gene, and 26 microsatellites) divergence, as well as detailing differences in courtship calls and downy plumage of chicks. The genetic analyses demonstrated that C. a. alexandrinus is sister to C. marginatus, not to C. a. nivosus. If true, then the resultant paraphyly likely will lead taxonomists either to lump C. marginatus with the C. alexandrinus complex or split C. alexandrinus into Old World and New World species."Richard</blockquote>

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