George Sangster

The spatio-temporal colonization and diversification across the Indo-Pacific by a ‘great speciator’ (Aves, Erythropitta erythrogaster )

The Indo-Pacific region has arguably been the most important area for the formulation of theories about biogeography and speciation, but modern studies of the tempo, mode and magnitude of diversification across this region are scarce. We study the biogeographic history and characterize levels of diversification in the wide-ranging passerine bird Erythropitta erythrogaster using molecular, phylogeographic and population genetics methods, as well as morphometric and plumage analyses. Our results suggest that E. erythrogaster colonized the Indo-Pacific during the Pleistocene in an eastward direction following a stepping stone pathway, and that sea-level fluctuations during the Pleistocene may have promoted gene flow only locally. A molecular species delimitation test suggests that several allopatric island populations of E. erythrogaster may be regarded as species. Most of these putative new species are further characterized by diagnostic differences in plumage. Our study reconfirms the E. erythrogaster complex as a ‘great speciator’: it represents a complex of up to 17 allopatrically distributed, reciprocally monophyletic and/or morphologically diagnosable species that originated during the Pleistocene. Our results support the view that observed latitudinal gradients of genetic divergence among avian sister species may have been affected by incomplete knowledge of taxonomic limits in tropical bird species.

Declining Rates of Species Described per Taxonomist: Slowdown of Progress or a Side-effect of Improved Quality in Taxonomy?

Declining rates of species described per taxonomist : slowdown of progress or a side-effect of improved quality in taxonomy?

A new owl species of the genus Otus (aves: strigidae) from Lombok, Indonesia.

The avifauna of Indonesia is one of the richest in the world but the taxonomic status of many species remains poorly documented. The sole species of scops owl known from Lombok has long been assigned to the widespread Moluccan Scops Owl Otus magicus on the basis of superficial similarities in morphology. Field work in 2003 has shown that the territorial song of the scops owls inhabiting the foothills of Gunung Rinjani differs dramatically from that of O. magicus and is more similar to those of Rufescent Scops Owl O. rufescens and Singapore Scops Owl O. cnephaeus. Detailed comparisons of sound recordings and museum specimens with those of other scops owls in Wallacea and the Indo-Malayan region have confirmed the distinctiveness of the Lombok population. We describe Otus jolandae as a new species, the Rinjani Scops Owl. It is locally common at elevations from 25–1350 m. and occurs within Gunung Rinjani National Park. The new species is known from seven specimens collected by Alfred Everett in 1896. Otus jolandae represents the first endemic bird species from Lombok.

Systematic revision of the avian family Cisticolidae based on a multi-locus phylogeny of all genera

The avian taxon Cisticolidae includes c. 110 species which are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World. We estimated the phylogeny of 47 species representing all genera assumed to be part of Cisticolidae based on sequence data from two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, in total 3495bp. Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses resulted in a generally well-supported phylogeny which clarified the position of several previously poorly known taxa. The placement of Drymocichla, Malcorus, Micromacronus, Oreophilais, Phragmacia, Phyllolais, Poliolais and Urorhipis in Cisticolidae is corroborated, whereas Rhopophilus and Scotocerca are removed from Cisticolidae. Urorhipis and Heliolais are placed in the genus Prinia whereas Prinia burnesii is shown to be part of Timaliidae, and is placed in the genus Laticilla. Although not recovered by all single loci independently, four major clades were identified within Cisticolidae, and one of these is here described as a new taxon (Neomixinae).

The evolution of mimicry of friarbirds by orioles (Aves: Passeriformes) in Australo-Pacific archipelagos

Observations by Alfred Wallace and Jared Diamond of plumage similarities between co-occurring orioles (Oriolus) and friarbirds (Philemon) in the Malay archipelago led them to conclude that the former represent visual mimics of the latter. Here, we use molecular phylogenies and plumage reflectance measurements to test several key predictions of the mimicry hypothesis. We show that friarbirds originated before brown orioles, that the two groups did not co-speciate, although there is one plausible instance of co-speciation among species on the neighbouring Moluccan islands of Buru and Seram. Furthermore, we show that greater size disparity between model and mimic and a longer history of co-occurrence have resulted in a stronger plumage similarity (mimicry). This suggests that resemblance between orioles and friarbirds represents mimicry and that colonization of islands by brown orioles has been facilitated by their ability to mimic the aggressive friarbirds.

Dutch Avifaunal List: Taxonomic Changes in 2004–2008

This is the third update on the taxonomy of species and higher taxa on the Dutch List since Voous (1977). It summarizes decisions made by the Commissie Systematiek Nederlandse Avifauna (CSNA) between Jan 2004 and Dec 2008. Changes in this report fall into five categories: (1) the sequence within and among some groups is changed to reflect their phylogenetic relationships (flamingos and grebes, eagles, shanks, gulls, terns, swallows and tits); (2) 20 scientific names are changed due to generic revisions (Aquila pennata, A. fasciata, Chroicocephalus genei, C. Philadelphia, C. ridibundus, Hydrocoloeus minutus, Onychoprion anaethetus, Sternula albifrons, Hydroprogne caspia, Megaceryle alcyon, Cecropis daurica, Geokichla sibirica, Cyanistes caeruleus, Lophophanes cristatus, Periparus ater, Poecile montanus, P. palustris, Pastor roseus, Agropsar sturninus, Melospiza melodia); (3) two scientific names replace others presently on the list due to the recognition of extralimital taxa as species (Turdus eunomus, T. atrogularis); (4) one species is added because of a split from a species already on the Dutch List (Sylvia subalpina); (5) two species become monotypic due to the recognition of an extralimital taxon as species (Tarsiger cyanurus, Oenanthe pleschanka).

Acoustic Differences between the Scoters Melanitta nigra nigra and m. n. americana

Abstract Scoter vocalizations may have a role in pair formation and pair bonding. I compared the courtship calls of male Black Scoters (Melanitta nigra nigra and M. n. americana) using published and archived recordings. Courtship calls of the two subspecies differed diagnosably in duration. In contrast, recordings from different localities within the ranges of each taxon showed no diagnosable differentiation. This finding represents the first indication these taxa differ in characters other than bill morphology and supports recent proposals to treat M. n. americana as a distinct species (M. americana). Vocal displays, in contrast to courtship displays, of anatids have not been used for assessment of species limits in Anatidae. My results indicate vocalizations are a potentially useful additional character in species-level taxonomy of anatids.

Paraclaravis, a new genus for the Purple-winged and Maroon-chested Ground-doves (Aves: Columbidae)

Previous molecular phylogenetic analyses and new analyses reported here demonstrate that the genus Claravis is not monophyletic and comprises two lineages, one with the species pretiosa Ferrari-Pérez, 1886 (Blue Ground-dove), and the other with two species: geoffroyi Temminck, 1811 (Purple-winged Ground-dove) and mondetoura Bonaparte, 1856 (Maroon-chested Ground-dove). Because the generic name Claravis is typified by C. pretiosa (Ferrari-Pérez, 1886), a new genus, Paraclaravis gen. nov., is described for geoffroyi Temminck, 1811 and mondetoura Bonaparte, 1856.

Niltavinae, a new taxon of Old World flycatchers (Aves: Muscicapidae)

The relationships among Old World chats and flycatchers (Muscicapidae) have recently been clarified in two independent molecular phylogenetic studies (Sangster et al. 2010, Zuccon & Ericson 2010). Both studies recovered a well-supported clade of predominantly blue flycatchers of the genera Niltava, Cyornis, Eumyias and Cyanoptila, some species traditionally included in the genus Rhinomyias and one species traditionally included in Ficedula (F. monileger). The family-group name Niltavinae Sangster, Alström, Forsmark & Olsson, 2010, was introduced for this clade (Sangster et al. 2010). Unfortunately, our description of the new taxon Niltavinae did not include a diagnosis (sensu ICZN article 13.1.1) and thus inadvertently made this name unavailable for nomenclatural purposes (Zuccon 2011). The supplementary data associated with our original paper included evidence by which the taxon Niltavinae can be diagnosed: a 1 base pair (bp) deletion in the ornithine decarboxylase gene, as shown in Figure S1 in the online version (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008), but this was not mentioned in the printed version of our paper. Given that Niltavinae Sangster, Alström, Forsmark & Olsson, 2010 represents a nomen nudum, and the clade for which this name was intended thus remains unnamed, we here provide the following description.