Proposal (595) to South American Classification Committee
Revise sequence of genera in the New World
parrots
Effect
on SACC: This proposal would rearrange the sequence of
genera in to reflect new findings on relationships within the family.
Background
and New information: Our current linear sequence is based largely
on historical momentum and traditional perceptions of relationships, with more-or-less
pointed-tail genera first, square-tailed last.
Fortunately, we now have enough modern phylogenetic data to revise our
classification. Our current Note is as
follows:
Kirchman
et al. (2012) and Schirtzinger et al. (2012) found that a group consisting of Touit, Bolborhynchus, and Psilopsiagon was sister to all other New World parrots, as well as many other
differences that would affect the traditional linear sequence of genera. SACC proposal badly
needed on linear sequence of genera.
Although we still have a long way to go, enough
genera and species have been sequenced that we have a well-supported hypothesis
for the phylogeny of the family.
Our
current linear sequence is as follows:
Anodorhynchus
Cyanopsitta
Ara
Orthopsittaca
Primolius
Diopsittaca
Ognorhynchus
Guarouba
Leptosittaca
Thectocercus
Psittacara
Aratinga
Eupsittula
Cyanoliseus
Pyrrhura
Enicognathus
Forpus
Brotogeris
Myiopsitta
Psilopsiagon
Bolborhynchus
Nannopsittaca
Touit
Pionites
Deroptyus
Pionopsitta
Pyrilia
Hapalopsittaca
Graydidascalus
Alipiopsitta
Pionus
Amazona
Triclaria
Joseph et al. (2012) distilled the existing
studies of the phylogeny of New World parrot genera and recommended at least
two Tribes within their subfamily Arinae (New World parrots), but with a number
of genera Incertae Sedis. Schirtzinger
et al. (2012) greatly expanded previous taxon-sampling to include most genera
in the Arinae. A miserable screen grab
of the relevant section of their tree is pasted in below, hopefully with
sufficient resolution to be somewhat legible (and let me know if you need a
pdf):
Note that a group that consists of Touit, Psilopsiagon Bolborhynchus, and Nannopsittaca is strongly supported as
the sister group to all other Arinae (also found by Kirchman et al. 2012). Within the remaining genera, there is
essentially a 4-way polytomy, with 4 well-supported groups: (1) Forpus; (2) Amazona + Graydidasculus
+ Pionus + Triclaria + Pyrilia + Hapalopsittaca; (3) Brotogeris + Myiopsitta; and
(4) almost everything else, e.g. all the macaws, conures, Pionites, Rhynchopsitta, Deroptyus. Many but by no means all of the nodes within
each group received strong support.
Schodde et al. (2013) divided the
Arinae into four tribes: Amoropsittacini (for the Touit group), Androglossini
(for groups 2 an 3 above), Forpini (for Forpus),
and Arini (for group 4).
Dickinson & Remsen (2013) translated the
Schirtzinger et al. tree into a linear sequence, and interpolated the position
of missing genera from a combination of other recent studies (e.g. Kirchman et
al. 2012) and traditional perception of relationships. Using tabs to signal positions of branches
and nodes and spaces to signal boundaries between groups, their sequence was:
Touit
Psilopsiagon
Bolborhynchus
Nannopsittaca
Myiopsitta
Brotogeris
Pionopsitta (position derived from Tavares
et al. 2006)
Triclaria
Pyrilia
Hapalopsittaca
Pionus
Graydidascalus
Alipiopsitta (position derived from Russello
& Amato 2004 and Kirchman et al. 2012)
Amazona
Forpus
Pionites
Deroptyus
Pyrrhura
Enicognathus
Cyanoliseus
Anodorhynchus
Eupsittula
Aratinga
Orthopsittaca
Cyanopsitta
Primolius
Ara
Leptosittaca
Ognorhynchus (position based on traditional sequences)
Guarouba
Diopsittaca
Psittacara
Subsequently, Urantowka et al. (2012)
provided evidence that the Blue-crowned Parakeet merits resurrecting the
monotypic genus Thectocercus
described for it by Ridgway, and Remsen et al. (2013) incorporated this into
their revision of the Aratinga
group. A proposal to follow Remsen et
al. (2013) was accepted by SACC, but we left the three genera excised from Aratinga adjacent to Aratinga with the notation that this
would be covered in a subsequent proposal, i.e., the current one.
Urantowka et al. (2012) found that the
closest relative of Thectocercus was Diopsittaca. Modifying the sequence from
Dickinson & Remsen to accommodate Thectocercus,
the sequence I propose is as follows:
Touit
Psilopsiagon
Bolborhynchus
Nannopsittaca
Myiopsitta
Brotogeris
Pionopsitta
Triclaria
Hapalopsittaca
Pyrilia
Pionus
Graydidascalus
Alipiopsitta
Amazona
Forpus
Pionites
Deroptyus
Pyrrhura
Enicognathus
Cyanoliseus
Anodorhynchus
Eupsittula
Aratinga
Cyanopsitta
Orthopsittaca
Primolius
Ara
Leptosittaca
Ognorhynchus
Guarouba
Thectocercus
Diopsittaca
Psittacara
In the above sequence, I also added two
minor tweaks to the sequence in Dickinson & Remsen: I reversed the
positions of (a) Cyanopsitta and Orthopsittaca to follow the branching
pattern in Schirtzinger et al., and (b) Hapalopsittaca
and Pyrilia to follow the convention
of least-diverse branch first.
Analysis
and Recommendation: The proposed new sequence reflects the
findings of several recent papers, especially Schirtzinger et al. (2012), and
barring additional tweaks, removes previous misconceptions on relationships in
the family; therefore, I recommend a YES.
Van Remsen, October
2013
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Comments from Stiles: “YES. The
accumulated data on genetic relationships of parrot genera are consistent, and
make this change a logical one to reflect what we now understand to be their
relationships.”
Comments from Zimmer: “YES. This does a much better job of reflecting our
revised understanding of relationships within this family. The positions of the oddballs Triclaria and Deroptyus surprises me, but then again, I don’t have any better
ideas about where they fit in the larger scheme of things.”
Comments from Pacheco: “YES. A sequência linear sugerida representa um
avanço no tratamento dos gêneros a partir dos vários recentes trabalhos”.
Comments
from Pérez-Emán: “YES,
as this new sequence will include all recent information on the phylogenetic
relationships of New World Parrots.”
Comments
from Jaramillo: “Hold
off – review if results “from Diversity versus disparity and the role of
ecological opportunity in a continental bird radiation” Manuel Schweizer,
Stefan T. Hertwig and Ole Seehausen 2014 confirm these results or introduce
changes to the sequence.”