Spizelloides Slager & Klicka 2014, gen. nov.
Creators
- 1. Department of Biology & Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
Description
Spizelloides, gen. nov.
Type species. Fringilla arborea Wilson, currently Spizella arborea.
Included species. Spizelloides arborea (Wilson) comb. nov., American Tree Sparrow.
Diagnosis. Distinguished from all extant species of Spizella, Passerella, Junco, and Zonotrichia by (1) a yellow lower mandible contrasting with a black upper mandible and (2) strongly divergent molecular characters (Klicka et al. 2014). Further distinguished from the six species of Spizella — atrogularis (Cabanis), breweri (Cassin), pallida (Swainson), passerina (Bechstein), pusilla (Wilson), and wortheni (Ridgway) —by (1) distinctive plumage features including rufous crown, rufous postocular stripe, and pale gray underparts with a dark central breast spot; (2) larger size on average (wing chord 67–82 mm, tail 60–74 mm; Pyle 1997); and (3) lateroventral process (LP) of the laterosphenoid 0.8–1.3 times the length of the zygomatic process (ZP) and with a wide, flat tip (vs. LP short (0.1–0.4 times the length of the ZP) in five species of Spizella; S. wortheni not examined; Patten & Fugate 1998). Further told from Passerella iliaca, its sister taxon according to the most complete molecular phylogeny (Klicka et al. 2014), by plumage characters, including a conspicuous lack of dense, dark streaking or spotting on the underparts. Separated from all extant species of Zonotrichia — atricapilla (Gmelin), albicollis (Gmelin), capensis (Müller), leucophrys (Forster), and querula (Nuttall) —and Junco — hyemalis, phaeonotus (Wagler), and vulcani (Boucard) —species by rufous crown and, in adults, a combination of dark iris and dorsal plumage streaking.
Description. Spizelloides arborea is well known and many descriptions have been published elsewhere (e.g. Ridgway 1901; Naugler 1993; Pyle 1997).
Etymology. The generic epithet Spizelloides is formed from the sparrow genus Spizella and the Greek suffix -oidēs (resembling; Brown 1956). The name alludes to the evolutionary convergence in plumage, morphology, and behavior that led to Spizelloides arborea being considered a Spizella sparrow for many years. The gender of Spizelloides is feminine.
Notes
Files
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Scientific name authorship
- Slager & Klicka
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Emberizidae
- Genus
- Spizelloides
- Taxon rank
- genus
- Taxonomic status
- gen. nov.
- Taxonomic concept label
- Spizelloides Slager & Klicka, 2014
References
- Klicka, J., Barker, F. K., Burns, K. J., Lanyon, S. M., Lovette, I. J., Chaves, J. A. & Bryson, R. W. Jr. (2014) A comprehensive multilocus assessment of sparrow (Family Passerellidae) relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 77, 177 - 182. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1016 / j. ympev. 2014.04.025
- Pyle, P. (1997) Identification guide to North American birds, Part I. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, California, 732 pp.
- Patten, M. A. & Fugate, M. (1998) Systematic relationships among the emberizid sparrows. The Auk, 115, 412 - 424. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.2307 / 4089200
- Ridgway, R. (1901) The Birds of North and Middle America. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, No. 50, Part 1, 1 - 715 + i - xx. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.5479 / si. 03629236.50. i
- Naugler, C. T. (1993) American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea). In: Poole, A. (Ed.), The Birds of North America Online. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. Available from: http: // bna. birds. cornell. edu / bna / species / 037 / articles / introduction (accessed 11 June 2014)
- Brown, R. W. (1956) Composition of Scientific Words. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 882 pp.