Subfamilies in Tinamidae (1 Viewer)

[Norbert R.]

Dear all,

in a recent paper, Bertelli et al. (2014) proposed a phylogeny of the Tinamidae based on oseological and myological data. Their study revealed two subfamilies, one for the forest-dwelling taxa (Nothocercus, Tinamus, Crypturellus) forming the subfamily Tinaminae, and another one for the open-area genera (Eudromia, Tinamotis, Taoniscus, Nothura, Rhynchotus and Nothoprocta), which they called Nothurinae. However, I was unable to trace back the name Nothurinae. Bock (1994), in his list of family-group names, did not mention Nothurinae. He lists Tinamotidae and Eudromiidae, both coined by Bonaparte, 1854, and Rhynchotidae von Boetticher, 1934 as family-group names available for the open-area tinamous. Can someone help with the correct nomenclature of the open-area clade of tinamous? Many thanks.

 

[Mike Earp]

Dear all,

in a recent paper, Bertelli et al. (2014) proposed a phylogeny of the Tinamidae based on oseological and myological data. Their study revealed two subfamilies, one for the forest-dwelling taxa (Nothocercus, Tinamus, Crypturellus) forming the subfamily Tinaminae, and another one for the open-area genera (Eudromia, Tinamotis, Taoniscus, Nothura, Rhynchotus and Nothoprocta), which they called Nothurinae. However, I was unable to trace back the name Nothurinae. Bock (1994), in his list of family-group names, did not mention Nothurinae. He lists Tinamotidae and Eudromiidae, both coined by Bonaparte, 1854, and Rhynchotidae von Boetticher, 1934 as family-group names available for the open-area tinamous. Can someone help with the correct nomenclature of the open-area clade of tinamous? Many thanks.

The source of the name Nothurinae is:

Miranda-Ribeiro, Alipio de. 1938. Notas ornithológicas (XIII). Tinamidae. Revista do Museu Paulista 23: 667–788.
​

Apparently, Miranda-Ribeiro divided Brazilian tinamous into two subfamilies: Tinaminae, equivalent to von Boetticher’s Tinaminae, and Nothurinae, grouping the former Rhynchotinae and Eudrominae. Regarding habitat preferences, Miranda-Ribeiro’s scheme led to the general categorization of species as either forest-dwelling (Tinaminae) or steppe (Nothurinae) tinamous.

 

[l_raty]

Nothurinae is reported in many works that Bock apparently did not check, but I have not seen the OD (and would be interested to see it). What I have in my notes is:

Nothurinae Miranda-Ribeiro 1938
stem Nothur- (Gr. νόθος, spurious + οὐρά, tail)
type genus Nothura Wagler 1827
OS Nothurinae
OR subfamily
OD Miranda-Ribeiro A. de. 1938. Notas ornithológicas, Tinamidae. Rev. Mus. Paulista 23:667-788.
​

Tinamidae Gray 1840 [OD] displaced Crypturidae Bonaparte 1831 [OD] when Cryptura Illiger 1811 was synonymised with Tinamus Hermann 1783 and is in prevailing use; thus it takes precedence from 1831 and is the correct name of the family.

Eudromiinae Bonaparte 1834 [OD] has precedence over Tinamotideae Bonaparte 1834 [OD] because it was introduced at a higher rank (subfamily vs. group).

The first instance of Rhynchotinae that I know of is in Fürbringer 1888 [here] (last line of the main text).

There is also a couple of instances of Nothoproctidae on the Web, including [here], which is probably published in the sense of the Code, but where the name is nude (no description; additionally, no statement of intent to establish a new name, as required after 1999).

 

[Nutcracker]

Tinamidae Gray 1840 [OD] displaced Crypturidae Bonaparte 1831 [OD] when Cryptura Illiger 1811 was synonymised with Tinamus Hermann 1781, and is in prevailing use; thus it takes precedence from 1831 and is the correct name of the family.

Not sure I get this, a younger family name replaces an older one, because its type genus became a synonym?

If so, why then do we keep Parulidae, based on Parula Bonaparte 1838, now a synonym of Setophaga Swainson, 1827?

 

[l_raty]

Not sure I get this, a younger family name replaces an older one, because its type genus became a synonym?

If so, why then do we keep Parulidae, based on Parula Bonaparte 1838, now a synonym of Setophaga Swainson, 1827?

Because rules have changed over time; many names that are now in use have historically displaced older names, that were then regarded invalid due to their type genus being treated as a synonym; when the remit of the Code was extended to family-group names, this was made in a way that attempted not to make all of these younger-but-used names invalid.

But you are right, my statement was not complete -- I should have written that Tinamidae displaced Crypturidae *before 1961* and is in prevailing use.

See ICZN [Article 40].

 

[Nutcracker]

Thanks!

 

[Norbert R.]

Many thanks for your explanations, Mike and Laurent. I was surprised that Wolters (Die Vogelarten der Erde, Lfg. 1, 1975) was wrong in applying Rhynchotinae for the steppe tinamous, and that Bock apparently overlooked Nothurinae.

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Sara Bertelli (2017)

Advances on tinamou phylogeny: an assembled cladistic study of the volant palaeognathous birds.

Cladistics (advance online publication)

DOI: 10.1111/cla.12172

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cla.12172/full

Abstract:

Tinamous are volant terrestrial birds, endemic to the Neotropics. Here, an inclusive phenotype-based phylogenetic study of the interrelationships among all extinct and living species of tinamous is conducted. In this cladistic analysis, results are compared between main character subsets and with previous molecular studies. Special attention is paid to character definition and scoring of integumentary and behavioural characters: transformation costs are applied to analyse egg coloration and plumage characters—on the basis of pigment composition and overlap of pigmentation patterns respectively—in the context of generalized (Sankoff) parsimony. Cladistic analysis recovers the traditional subdivision between those tinamous specialized for open areas (Nothurinae) and those inhabiting forested environments (Tinaminae) and support the monophyly of recognized genera. The present study demonstrates that morphological analysis yields highly congruent results when compared with previous molecular studies; thus, it provides morphological synapomorphies for clades that have been proposed by these molecular analyses. The placement of the fossil species within the open-area (Nothurinae) and the forest-dwelling (Tinaminae) tinamous is also consistent with the palaeoenvironmental conditions inferred from the associated flora and fauna.

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Sara Bertelli (2017)

Advances on tinamou phylogeny: an assembled cladistic study of the volant palaeognathous birds.

Cladistics (advance online publication)

DOI: 10.1111/cla.12172

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cla.12172/full

Also here post #8

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Sorry Peter, I didn't find it when I searched for "Tinamou".

Fred

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Sorry Peter, I didn't find it when I searched for "Tinamou".

Fred

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