Proposal (594) to South American Classification Committee

 

Revise linear sequences of species in Geositta, Cinclodes, and Phacellodomus

 

This set of proposals would make minor “book-keeping” modifications the linear sequences of species in 3 genera in the Furnariidae to reflect relationships shown by Derryberry et al. (2011), who sampled the family intensively (97% of all species).  The gene-sampling was also intensive: “For the majority of individuals, we amplified and sequenced three mitochondrial genes and one nuclear intron: NADH dehydrogenase subunit 3 (ND3; 351 bp), cytochrome oxidase subunit 2 (CO2; 684 bp), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2; 1041 bp), and β-fibrinogen intron 7 (Bf7; 840 bp). For at least one individual per genus, we also included a large portion of the single exons of the recombination activating genes RAG-1 (2904bp) and RAG-2 (1152bp).”  I have packaged them all into a single proposal with multiple parts because they are all based on Derryberry et al. (2011).  The sequences use the standard conventions, i.e., least-diverse (# taxa at same rank) branch first, sister taxa or allospecies in superspecies listed geographically, NW to SE; tabs used to signify nodes, and spaces aid in marking sister species:

 

A. Geositta: Our current linear sequence is based on Cheviron et al. (2005).

 

Geositta peruviana Coastal Miner
Geositta cunicularia Common Miner
Geositta tenuirostris Slender-billed Miner
Geositta antarctica Short-billed Miner
Geositta isabellina Creamy-rumped Miner
Geositta saxicolina Dark-winged Miner
Geositta maritima Grayish Miner
Geositta punensis Puna Miner
Geositta rufipennis Rufous-banded Miner
Geositta poeciloptera Campo Miner
Geositta crassirostris Thick-billed Miner


New information: Derryberry et al. (2011) produced a phylogenetic hypothesis for the entire family Furnariidae based on multiple loci and an almost complete sampling of the family at the species level.  The tree was largely in agreement with the mtDNA-based tree of Cheviron et al. (2005) with one exception:  Geositta punensis was found to be the sister species of G. cunicularia rather than a member of the group of species rather than part of the group that includes G. poeciloptera + G. crassirostris + G. rufipennis.  The relevant section of the tree from Derryberry et al. (2011) is pasted in below.

 

 

 

 

To have our sequence reflect the phylogeny in Derryberry et al. (2011), G. punensis has to be moved adjacent to G. cunicularia.  As long as that move needs to be made, we might as well make minor adjustments to the rest of the sequence to follow the standard conventions:

 

Geositta peruviana Coastal Miner

Geositta tenuirostris Slender-billed Miner

Geositta cunicularia Common Miner

Geositta punensis Puna Miner

 

Geositta poeciloptera Campo Miner

Geositta crassirostris Thick-billed Miner

Geositta rufipennis Rufous-banded Miner

 

Geositta maritima Grayish Miner

Geositta antarctica Short-billed Miner

Geositta saxicolina Dark-winged Miner

Geositta isabellina Creamy-rumped Miner

 

Analysis and Recommendation:  The proposed new sequence reflects the findings of Derryberry et al. (2011) using sequencing conventions.  This is all minor stuff, but as long as we’re going to use linear sequences to reflect phylogeny, we have to pay attention to these details, so I recommend a YES on this.

 

 

B. Cinclodes:  Our current sequence is based on Chesser (2004) and SACC proposal 414.

 

Cinclodes pabsti Long-tailed Cinclodes
Cinclodes antarcticus Blackish Cinclodes
Cinclodes fuscus Buff-winged Cinclodes
Cinclodes albidiventris Chestnut-winged Cinclodes
Cinclodes comechingonus Cordoba Cinclodes
Cinclodes albiventris Cream-winged Cinclodes
Cinclodes olrogi Olrog's Cinclodes
Cinclodes excelsior Stout-billed Cinclodes
Cinclodes aricomae Royal Cinclodes
Cinclodes atacamensis White-winged Cinclodes
Cinclodes palliatus White-bellied Cinclodes
Cinclodes oustaleti Gray-flanked Cinclodes
Cinclodes patagonicus Dark-bellied Cinclodes
Cinclodes taczanowskii Surf Cinclodes
Cinclodes nigrofumosus Seaside Cinclodes

Derryberry et al. (2011), with broader genetic and taxon sampling, found a slightly different branching pattern:

 

 

 

 

A sequence modified to reflect these relationships is below:

 

Cinclodes pabsti Long-tailed Cinclodes

Cinclodes fuscus Buff-winged Cinclodes

Cinclodes antarcticus Blackish Cinclodes

Cinclodes comechingonus Cordoba Cinclodes

Cinclodes albidiventris Chestnut-winged Cinclodes

Cinclodes olrogi Olrog's Cinclodes

Cinclodes albiventris Cream-winged Cinclodes

Cinclodes oustaleti Gray-flanked Cinclodes

Cinclodes excelsior Stout-billed Cinclodes

Cinclodes aricomae Royal Cinclodes

Cinclodes palliatus White-bellied Cinclodes

Cinclodes atacamensis White-winged Cinclodes

Cinclodes patagonicus Dark-bellied Cinclodes

Cinclodes taczanowskii Surf Cinclodes

Cinclodes nigrofumosus Seaside Cinclodes

 

Analysis & Recommendation: The above sequence reflects the new findings of Derryberry et al. (2011).  Frankly, the sequence from fuscus through oustaleti is baffling to me biogeographically and from what little I thought I knew about the birds.  Nonetheless, the genetic data are solid and largely match those of Sanín et al. (2009), and so I recommend a YES.

 

 

 

C. Phacellodomus: Our current sequence is:

 

Phacellodomus rufifrons Rufous-fronted Thornbird
Phacellodomus sibilatrix Little Thornbird
Phacellodomus striaticeps Streak-fronted Thornbird
Phacellodomus maculipectus Spot-breasted Thornbird
Phacellodomus striaticollis Freckle-breasted Thornbird
Phacellodomus dorsalis Chestnut-backed Thornbird
Phacellodomus ruber Greater Thornbird
Phacellodomus erythrophthalmus Orange-eyed Thornbird
Phacellodomus
ferrugineigula Orange-breasted Thornbird

Our current note covers the problem:

 

73. Phacellodomus maculipectus was formerly (e.g., Peters, 1951, Meyer de Schauensee 1970) considered a subspecies of P. striaticollis. Ridgely & Tudor (1994), based on Nores and Yzurieta (1979<check>), considered the subspecies maculipectus to be a separate species from striaticollis. SACC proposal passed to recognize maculipectus as a separate species. Derryberry et al. (2011) found that they were not sister taxa, with P. striaticollis the sister to P. ruber, and P. maculipectus sister to P. dorsalis.  SACC proposal needed to change linear sequence.

Derryberry et al. (2011) found the following branching pattern:

 

 

         The following modification corrects our sequence, namely to show that P. maculipectus and P. striaticollis are not sisters:

 

Phacellodomus rufifrons Rufous-fronted Thornbird

Phacellodomus striaticeps Streak-fronted Thornbird

Phacellodomus sibilatrix Little Thornbird

 

Phacellodomus dorsalis Chestnut-backed Thornbird

Phacellodomus maculipectus Spot-breasted Thornbird

 

Phacellodomus striaticollis Freckle-breasted Thornbird

Phacellodomus ruber Greater Thornbird

 

Phacellodomus erythrophthalmus Orange-eyed Thornbird

Phacellodomus ferrugineigula Orange-breasted Thornbird

 

Analysis & Recommendation: The above sequence reflects the new findings of Derryberry et al. (2011), who did not sample Phacellodomus ferrugineigula, but a safe assumption is that it is sister to P. erythrophthalmus, with which it was considered conspecific until recently.  The genetic data are solid and the nodes all have strong support; so I recommend a YES.

 

Literature Cited:

 

CHESSER, R. T. 2004a. Systematics, evolution, and biogeography of the South American ovenbird genus Cinclodes. Auk 121: 752-766.

CHEVIRON, Z. A., A. P. CAPPARELLA, AND F. VUILLEUMIER. 2005. Molecular phylogenetic relationships among the Geositta miners (Furnariidae) and biogeographic implications for avian speciation in Fuego-Patagonia. Auk 122: 158-174.

DERRYBERRY, E., S. CLARAMUNT, G. DERRYBERRY, R. T. CHESSER, J. CRACRAFT, A. ALEIXO, J. PÉREZ-ÉMAN, J. V. REMSEN, JR., AND R. T. BRUMFIELD.  2011.  Lineage diversification and morphological evolution in a large-scale continental radiation: the Neotropical ovenbirds and woodcreepers (Aves: Furnariidae).  Evolution 65: 2973–2986.

SANÍN, C., C. D. CADENA, J. M. MALEY, D. A. LIJTMAER, P. L. TUBARO P.L., AND R. T. CHESSER.  2009.  Paraphyly of Cinclodes fuscus (Aves: Passeriformes: Furnariidae): Implications for taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 53: 547-555.

 

Van Remsen, October 2013

 

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Comments from Stiles: “YES. Given the now solid genetic data and the use of standard conventions, I see no problem with rearranging the sequences of species in these genera to accord with these data.”

 

Comments from Zimmer: “YES, on all three sub-proposals, to reflect the most current genetic data.”

 

Comments from Pacheco: “Eu decido meus votos seguindo as expressas recomendações de Remsen por refletirem de forma mais ampla as filogenias apresentadas: [YES] to A, B, and C.”

 

Comments from Pérez-Emán:  YES to all sub-proposals to incorporate the most recent phylogenetic information.”

 

Comments from Jaramillo: “A – Revise linear order in Geositta as stated in the proposal. YES.

B – Revise linear order of Cinclodes. YES.  An aside, this is a prediction, but Fuegian antarcticus, is likely from the patagonicus clade. Probably quite unrelated to Falkland antarcticus. Unfortunately genetic and vocal data for that population are essentially unknown, we shall have to wait for data to emerge at some point.

C – Revise linear order in Phacellodomus. YES.