I count it as its own species. I saw some when I was in Arizona last year and they certainly looked distinct. I thought they were American Black Ducks at first before I realized that species doesn't occur that far west.
~Thylo
The Taxonomy Thread
- Thread starter jbnbsn99
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I count it as its own species. I saw some when I was in Arizona last year and they certainly looked distinct. I thought they were American Black Ducks at first before I realized that species doesn't occur that far west.
~Thylo
The 2 Red panda-subspecies are in fact 2 species apart :
Red panda genes suggest there are actually two different species
Red panda genes suggest there are actually two different species
No, not "in fact" - even the title of the article only uses the word "suggest".
As was pointed out in the article itself, sampling was basically done from either end of the range and not in the middle, and both subspecies have gone through bottlenecks.
Though there is clearly genetic differentiation between the sampled populations, no red pandas were sampled in Bhutan and northern India where the animals are also found, says Jon Slate at the University of Sheffield in the UK. “Without having sampled pandas there, it’s harder to really confidently say there are two distinct species here,” he says.
The genome analyses also showed that the Himalayan red panda underwent a drastic reduction in population three times, with the most recent decline taking place 90,000 years ago. This has resulted in a low genetic diversity and small population size in today’s Himalayan species.
In comparison, the Chinese red panda experienced a population drop twice – most likely due to glacial periods – but managed to recover after each event.
The scientific article itself is much clearer stating that both Red Panda are clear phylogenetic species:
Genomic evidence for two phylogenetic species and long-term population bottlenecks in red pandas
Apparently based on their data (60+ whole genomes, so not bad
), the original split occured 3 million years ago and they state the Yalu Zangbu River is likely the geographical boundary, not the Nujiang River
It is true there is a gap in Bhutan & N India, but looking at Fig. 2A in the manuscript they did not only sample at either end of the range, but covered quite a broad range, with only one major gap in N India and Bhutan, which should obviously be covered in future research
Looking at the original study I find it a quite convincing case.
Genomic evidence for two phylogenetic species and long-term population bottlenecks in red pandas
Apparently based on their data (60+ whole genomes, so not bad
), the original split occured 3 million years ago and they state the Yalu Zangbu River is likely the geographical boundary, not the Nujiang RiverIt is true there is a gap in Bhutan & N India, but looking at Fig. 2A in the manuscript they did not only sample at either end of the range, but covered quite a broad range, with only one major gap in N India and Bhutan, which should obviously be covered in future research
Looking at the original study I find it a quite convincing case.
I hadn't seen the paper earlier, of course, however I still take issue with the wording "in fact". I'm more inclined to wait for additional research/confirmation/refutation.
2 taxa of Hydrosaurus ( sail-fin lizards ) resurrected again to species status so the genus now contains 5 species :
Abstract of the article :
Dragons in neglect: Taxonomic revision of the Sulawesi sailfin lizards of the genus Hydrosaurus Kaup, 1828 (Squamata, Agamidae) | DENZER | Zootaxa
Abstract of the article :
Dragons in neglect: Taxonomic revision of the Sulawesi sailfin lizards of the genus Hydrosaurus Kaup, 1828 (Squamata, Agamidae) | DENZER | Zootaxa
Just when I thought I'd seen them all!
Not very surprising, though, seems a lot of people have considered the Sulawesi animals to be different for quite some time now.~Thylo
The Haida Gwaii saw-whet owl has been split-off from the Northern saw-whet owl :
( article from the American Birding Association , found on Facebook ) :
Split Aegolius acadicus brooksi from Northern Saw-Whet Owl A. acadicus acadicus
Those who enjoy leafing through field guides for fun may be somewhat familiar with the distinctive brooksi subspecies of Northern Saw-whet Owl found on the island of Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) off the northwest coast of British Columbia. The non-migratory subspecies is unique for a number of reasons, most notably that it is darker and buffier than mainland saw-whet owls, but also that it frequently forages for invertebrates in tidal pools. Recent research suggests that gene flow between the island birds and the mainland birds are almost non-existent and that the Haida Gwaii birds could reasonably be considered to be on different evolutionary trajectories and therefore should be split. The new species could be called Haida Gwaii Saw-whet Owl and would add a new species to the ABA Checklist, additionally giving Canada an endemic bird species.
( article from the American Birding Association , found on Facebook ) :
Split Aegolius acadicus brooksi from Northern Saw-Whet Owl A. acadicus acadicus
Those who enjoy leafing through field guides for fun may be somewhat familiar with the distinctive brooksi subspecies of Northern Saw-whet Owl found on the island of Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) off the northwest coast of British Columbia. The non-migratory subspecies is unique for a number of reasons, most notably that it is darker and buffier than mainland saw-whet owls, but also that it frequently forages for invertebrates in tidal pools. Recent research suggests that gene flow between the island birds and the mainland birds are almost non-existent and that the Haida Gwaii birds could reasonably be considered to be on different evolutionary trajectories and therefore should be split. The new species could be called Haida Gwaii Saw-whet Owl and would add a new species to the ABA Checklist, additionally giving Canada an endemic bird species.
Some researchers propose to split Himalayan Ibex from Siberian. The paper is called 'Genetic evidence for allopatric speciation of the Siberian Ibex (Capra sibirica) in India'.
Himalayan Ibex a distinct species
Himalayan Ibex a distinct species
BIG changes to turaco taxonomy are proposed in a recent paper:
Phylogeography, Species Limits, Phylogeny, and Classification of the Turacos (Aves: Musophagidae) Based on Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Sequences,
American Museum Novitates - No. 3949
Some taxa which were not even considered as valid subspecies by HBW are here raised to being full species: e.g. Tauraco loitanus and Tauraco marungensis.
The full list of species recognised in this paper is as follows:
SUBFAMILY CORYTHAEOLINAE Verheyen, 1956
Genus CORYTHAEOLA Heine, 1860
Corythaeola cristata (Vieillot, 1816) great blue turaco
SUBFAMILY CRINIFERINAE Verheyen, 1956
Genus CRINIFER Jarocki, 1821
Crinifer leucogaster (Rüppell, 1842a) white-bellied go-away-bird
Crinifer piscator (Boddaert, 1783) western grey plantain-eater
Crinifer zonurus (Rüppell, 1835a) eastern grey plantain-eater
Crinifer concolor (Smith, 1833) grey go-away-bird
Crinifer personatus (Rüppell, 1842b) bare-faced go-away-bird
SUBFAMILY MUSOPHAGINAE (Lesson, 1828)
Genus GALLIREX Lesson, 1844
Gallirex porphyreolophus (Vigors, 1831) southern purple-crested turaco
Gallirex chlorochlamys Shelley, 1881 northern purple-crested turaco
Gallirex johnstoni Sharpe, 1901 Rwenzori turaco
Gallirex kivuensis (Neumann, 1908a) Kivu turaco
Genus MENELIKORNIS von Boetticher, 1947
Menelikornis leucotis (Rüppell, 1835b) white-cheeked turaco
Menelikornis donaldsoni (Sharpe, 1895) Donaldson’s turaco
Menelikornis ruspolii (Salvadori, 1896) Prince Ruspoli’s turaco
Genus MUSOPHAGA Isert, 1789
Musophaga rossae Gould, 1852 Lady Ross’s turaco
Musophaga violacea Isert, 1789 violet turaco
Musophaga macrorhyncha (Fraser, 1839) western yellow-billed turaco
Musophaga verreauxii Schlegel, 1854 eastern yellow-billed turaco
Genus PROTURACUS Bates, 1923
Proturacus bannermani Bates, 1923 Bannerman’s turaco
Proturacus leucolophus (von Heuglin, 1855) white-crested turaco
Proturacus erythrolophus (Vieillot, 1819a) red-crested turaco
Genus TAURACO Kluk, 1779
Tauraco persa (Linnaeus, 1758) eastern green turaco
Tauraco buffoni (Vieillot, 1819b) western green turaco
Tauraco emini (Reichenow, 1893) eastern black-billed turaco
Tauraco hartlaubi (Fischer and Reichenow, 1884) Hartlaub’s turaco
Tauraco fischeri (Reichenow, 1878) Fischer’s turaco
Tauraco reichenowi (Fischer, 1880) Reichenow’s turaco
Tauraco corythaix (Wagler, 1827) Knysna turaco
Tauraco livingstonii (Gray, 1864) Livingstone’s turaco
Tauraco schuettii (Cabanis, 1879) western black-billed turaco
Tauraco chalcolophus (Neumann, 1895) Ngorongoro turaco
Tauraco schalowi (Reichenow, 1891) Schalow’s turaco
Tauraco loitanus (Neumann, 1908b) Loita turaco
Tauraco marungensis (Reichenow, 1902) Zambia turaco
Phylogeography, Species Limits, Phylogeny, and Classification of the Turacos (Aves: Musophagidae) Based on Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Sequences,
American Museum Novitates - No. 3949
Some taxa which were not even considered as valid subspecies by HBW are here raised to being full species: e.g. Tauraco loitanus and Tauraco marungensis.
The full list of species recognised in this paper is as follows:
SUBFAMILY CORYTHAEOLINAE Verheyen, 1956
Genus CORYTHAEOLA Heine, 1860
Corythaeola cristata (Vieillot, 1816) great blue turaco
SUBFAMILY CRINIFERINAE Verheyen, 1956
Genus CRINIFER Jarocki, 1821
Crinifer leucogaster (Rüppell, 1842a) white-bellied go-away-bird
Crinifer piscator (Boddaert, 1783) western grey plantain-eater
Crinifer zonurus (Rüppell, 1835a) eastern grey plantain-eater
Crinifer concolor (Smith, 1833) grey go-away-bird
Crinifer personatus (Rüppell, 1842b) bare-faced go-away-bird
SUBFAMILY MUSOPHAGINAE (Lesson, 1828)
Genus GALLIREX Lesson, 1844
Gallirex porphyreolophus (Vigors, 1831) southern purple-crested turaco
Gallirex chlorochlamys Shelley, 1881 northern purple-crested turaco
Gallirex johnstoni Sharpe, 1901 Rwenzori turaco
Gallirex kivuensis (Neumann, 1908a) Kivu turaco
Genus MENELIKORNIS von Boetticher, 1947
Menelikornis leucotis (Rüppell, 1835b) white-cheeked turaco
Menelikornis donaldsoni (Sharpe, 1895) Donaldson’s turaco
Menelikornis ruspolii (Salvadori, 1896) Prince Ruspoli’s turaco
Genus MUSOPHAGA Isert, 1789
Musophaga rossae Gould, 1852 Lady Ross’s turaco
Musophaga violacea Isert, 1789 violet turaco
Musophaga macrorhyncha (Fraser, 1839) western yellow-billed turaco
Musophaga verreauxii Schlegel, 1854 eastern yellow-billed turaco
Genus PROTURACUS Bates, 1923
Proturacus bannermani Bates, 1923 Bannerman’s turaco
Proturacus leucolophus (von Heuglin, 1855) white-crested turaco
Proturacus erythrolophus (Vieillot, 1819a) red-crested turaco
Genus TAURACO Kluk, 1779
Tauraco persa (Linnaeus, 1758) eastern green turaco
Tauraco buffoni (Vieillot, 1819b) western green turaco
Tauraco emini (Reichenow, 1893) eastern black-billed turaco
Tauraco hartlaubi (Fischer and Reichenow, 1884) Hartlaub’s turaco
Tauraco fischeri (Reichenow, 1878) Fischer’s turaco
Tauraco reichenowi (Fischer, 1880) Reichenow’s turaco
Tauraco corythaix (Wagler, 1827) Knysna turaco
Tauraco livingstonii (Gray, 1864) Livingstone’s turaco
Tauraco schuettii (Cabanis, 1879) western black-billed turaco
Tauraco chalcolophus (Neumann, 1895) Ngorongoro turaco
Tauraco schalowi (Reichenow, 1891) Schalow’s turaco
Tauraco loitanus (Neumann, 1908b) Loita turaco
Tauraco marungensis (Reichenow, 1902) Zambia turaco
Interesting, thanks for sharing. That would represent at least 3 armchair ticks at first glance, will check this out tomorrow.
I went through this paper, but the results are not very convincing at a species level. There may be a good case for the recognition of the genera, but they use a narrow PSC view with very limited genetic data, so it is not really clear how valid their results really are. What is interesting is that they find Donaldson's Turaco as a sister to Ruspoli's Turacao, whereas it is currently considered as a very distinct subspecies of White-cheeked Turaco. But a lot more samples would be needed to verify that.
Does anyone have any thoughts on if this is a good split or not?
There is already a thread about it: Gentoo penguins to be split into four species?
Saw somewhere that the Quetzalt has been split into 2 species but can't find the reference anymore ... 
( anybody else maybe ? ).
( anybody else maybe ? ).There are 2 subspecies, but none of the four main lists regard them as any more distinct than that. I have no recollections of any mooted split personally.
Bolanos et al, Bioacoustics, 2019; different vocalisations in favour of a split.