Proposal (463) to South American Classification Committee
Recognize newly described Scytalopus petrophilus
Effect on
SACC: This would add a new species to the official list.
Background: A Scytalopus population discovered in the Espinhaço Range of Minas Gerais in
1989 was assigned by Raposo (2006) and Raposo and Kirwan (2008) to S.
speluncae. Genetic data (Mata et al.
2009), however, showed that the Espinhaço Scytalopus is not even the sister to S. speluncae (and Maurício et al. 2010 also demonstrated
that this population cannot be assigned to S.
speluncae).
New information: Whitney
et al. (2010) described the Espinhaço Range Scytalopus as a new species, S. petrophilus. The type locality is Serra da Piedade, Caeté, Minas Gerais, and the
type specimen is at MZUSP, including a tissue sample. About 20 paratypes were also used in the
description.
The abstract from Whitney et al. is as follows:
“ABSTRACT: We
describe a new species of Scytalopus tapaculo from the southern section of
the Espinhaço Range and other points in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Scytalopus petrophilus sp. nov., Rock Tapaculo, occupies a
variety of habitats between about 900 and 2,100 m elevation, from open, rocky
shrub associations (campos rupestres) high in the mountains to taller forest in
steep‑walled
valleys to second‑growth
of semi‑deciduous
woodland. Its morphology, vocalizations, and preliminary genetic profile place
it solidly within the S. novacapitalis (Brasilia Tapaculo) complex, joining
that species, S. pachecoi (Planalto Tapaculo), and the newly
described S. diamantinensis(Diamantina Tapaculo). S. petrophilus is phenotypically diagnosed from its
allospecies by combinations of morphological and vocal characters.
“Resumo:
Uma nova espécie de Scytalopus do estado de
Minas Gerais, Brasil. É descrita uma
nova espécie de Scytalopus da porção meridional da Cadeia do Espinhaço e de outros pontos do estado de Minas
Gerais, Brasil. Scytalopus petrophilus sp. nov. (tapaculo‑serrano) ocupa uma ampla variedade de habitats entre cerca de 900 e 2.100 m de altitude, variando desde áreas abertas nos altos das serras, em formações arbustivas sobre afloramentos rochosos (campos rupestres) a florestas mais altas em vales encaixados e capoeiras de florestas semidecíduas. Sua morfologia, vocalizações e uma filogenia molecular mostram consistentemente que esta espécie se encaixa no clado formado por S. novacapitalis (tapaculo‑de‑brasília), S. pachecoi (tapaculo‑ferreirinho) e S. diamantinensis (tapaculo‑da‑chapada‑diamantina). Fenotipicamente, S.
petrophilus é diagnosticado de suas aloespécies por combinações de caracteres morfológicos e vocais.”
Analysis and Recommendation: Based on
plumage characters, Whitney et al. (2010) presented diagnoses of petrophilus (n = 27 skins) from novacapitalis (n = 5), diamantinensis (n =9), and pachecoi (n= 32).
Petrophilus is 100%
diagnosable from diamantinensis based
on belly color. It is evidently 100%
diagnosable from speluncae by presence of barred flanks. It is nearly 100% diagnosable (stated as
“almost always” in Table 2; this is not defined directly but inferred from the
text to be 1 specimen in each case) vs. novacapitalis and pachecoi in terms of various ventral plumage
characters. Thus, there is little doubt
that petrophilus is a diagnosable taxon, i.e., at least
a subspecies, based on plumage alone.
As is typical for the genus, the primary evidence for species rank
is based on voice. In this case, the vocal
data were mostly previously published in Bornschein et al. (2007), who found
that petrophilus (analyzed therein as “sp. nov.”) had a
diagnostic call, and differs from the other taxa in various features of the
“regular” song, the “accelerated” song, and call notes. However, as discussed at length when we
deliberated over species rank for diamantinensis (SACC proposal 329), the
vocalizations overlap to a degree among species and are not as dramatic as
among many Andean Scytalopus taxa ranked as species.
Because we ranked diamantinensis as a species, I see no logical way to
rank petrophilus as anything but a species as well, so I
recommend a YES vote on the proposal (which see for additional details).
References:
BORNSCHEIN, M. R., G. N. MAURÍCIO, R. BELMONTE-LOPES, H. MATA,
& S. L. BONATTO. 2007.
Diamantina Tapaculo, a new Scytalopus endemic to the Chapada Diamantina,
northeastern Brazil (Passeriformes: Rhinocryptidae). Revista Brasileira
de Ornitologia 15: 151-174.
MATA, H., C. S. FONTANA, G. N. MAURÍCIO, M. R. BORNSCHEIN, M. F.
DE VASCONCELOS, AND S. L. BONATTO. 2009. Molecular
phylogeny and biogeography of the eastern tapaculos (Aves: Rhinocryptidae: Scytalopus, Eleoscytalopus): cryptic
diversification in Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
53: 450-462.
MAURÍCIO,
G. N., M. R. BORNSCHEIN, M. F.
VASCONCELOS, B. M. WHITNEY, J. F. PACHECO, AND L. F. SILVEIRA. 2010. Taxonomy
of “Mouse‑colored Tapaculos”. I. On the application of the name Malacorhynchus speluncae Ménétriès, 1835 (Aves: Passeriformes:
Rhinocryptidae). Zootaxa
2518: 32-48.
RAPOSO, M.
A., R. STOPIGLIA, V. LOSKOT, AND G. M. KIRWAN.
2006. The correct use of the name Scytalopus speluncae (Ménétriès, 1835), and the description
of a new species of Brazilian tapaculo (Aves: Passeriformes:
Rhinocryptidae). Zootaxa 1271: 37-56.
RAPOSO, M. A., AND G. M. KIRWAN. 2008. The
Brazilian species complex Scytalopus
speluncae: how many times can a holotype be overlooked? Revista Brasileira de
Ornitologia 16: 78-81.
WHITNEY, B.
M., M. F. VASCONCELOS, L. F. SILVEIRA, AND J. F. PACHECO. 2010. Scytalopus
petrophilus (Rock Tapaculo): a new
species from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 18: 73-88.
Van Remsen,
August 2010
____________________________________________________________________________
Comments from Stiles: “YES, to
be consistent with the current taxonomy of this group of tapaculos, which
collectively would form a superspecies.”
Comments from Zimmer:
“YES. Nice to finally put a name to this
population, which has been recognized as vocally and morphologically distinct
by field ornithologists for more than 20 years. The controversy over the type specimen
of speluncae has muddied the waters tremendously, but I
am happy to accept the interpretation of Maurício et al. 2009, and move
on. The resolution of that
issue allows the Espinhaço population to be properly named. Having a fair amount of personal field
experience with petrophilus and novacapitalis, and lots of experience with speluncae/notorius, I would say
that the morphological and vocal differences between the various taxa are as
described by Whitney et al. 2010, and are consistent with criteria used for
ranking other Scytalopus populations as species.”
Comments from Jaramillo: “YES –
The data in the paper convince me that a new species is involved, and thanks to
Kevin for confirmatory statements based on field experience.”
Comments from Pérez: “YES, to
be consistent with current taxonomic criteria used in this group of birds.”