Published February 7, 2024 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Driophlox Scott, Chesser, Unitt, and Burns 2024, genus nov.

  • 1. Department of Biology, San Diego State University, CA, 92182, San Diego, USA
  • 2. U. S. Geological Survey, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Laurel, MD 20708 & Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, 20560
  • 3. Department of Birds and Mammals, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA, 92112

Description

Driophlox Scott, Chesser, Unitt, and Burns, genus nov.

Type species. Phoenicothraupis gutturalis Sclater, 1854.

Included species and subspecies. Driophlox gutturalis (Sclater, 1854) comb. nov., Driophlox atrimaxillaris (Dwight & Griscom, 1924) comb. nov., Driophlox cristatus (Lawrence, 1875) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda (Cabanis, 1861) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda discolor (Ridgway, 1901) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda erythrolaema (Sclater, 1862) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda fuscicauda (Cabanis, 1861) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda insularis (Salvin, 1888) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda salvini (Berlepsch, 1883) comb. nov., Driophlox fuscicauda willisi (Parkes, 1969) comb. nov.

Diagnosis. Compared to Habia rubica, species of Driophlox are typically characterized by more conspicuous red or orange throats that contrast more with the rest of the underparts, and by dark brown or dark gray upperparts, differing from the reddish-brown upperparts of Habia rubica. Molecular analyses of Barker et al. (2015) and Scott (2022) revealed differences in both mtDNA and nuclear loci. These differences showed that the species placed in this new genus are not sister to Habia rubica, which is the type species of Habia and sister to Chlorothraupis. Cladistically, we define this genus as the descendants of the common ancestor of Driophlox gutturalis and Driophlox fuscicauda.

Etymology. From the Greek δριος (drios, translated in Liddell’s Greek–English Lexicon as “copse” or “thicket,” alluding to the birds’ habitat of forest undergrowth) and φλοξ (phlox, fire or flame, alluding to the varying shades of red plumage in males, as well as to the red crown patch or crest). The name thus means “flame of the forest undergrowth.” Like other names compounded from the root - phlox, it is feminine in gender, as is Habia. Thus, adoption of Driophlox entails no need for change in any specific or subspecific epithet.

Notes

Published as part of Scott, Benjamin F., Chesser, R. Terry, Unitt, Philip & Burns, Kevin J., 2024, Driophlox, a new genus of cardinalid (Aves: Passeriformes: Cardinalidae), pp. 497-500 in Zootaxa 5406 (3) on pages 498-499, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5406.3.11, http://zenodo.org/record/10628000

Files

Files (2.6 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:36d396f05f74c4eeea765e4249eb8f3a
2.6 kB Download

System files (20.0 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:18a411aa903200fedd6084b45f6fc3b5
20.0 kB Download

Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Scott, Chesser, Unitt, and Burns
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Cardinalidae
Genus
Driophlox
Taxon rank
genus
Taxonomic status
gen. nov.
Taxonomic concept label
Driophlox Scott, Chesser, Unitt & Burns, 2024

References

  • Sclater, P. L. (1854) On a new species of tanager in the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 2, 13, 24 - 25. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 03745485709496298
  • Dwight, J. & Griscom, L. (1924) Descriptions of new birds from Costa Rica. American Museum Novitates, 142, 1 - 5.
  • Lawrence, G. N. (1875) Descriptions of two new species of birds of the Families Tanagridae and Tyrannidae. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, 11 (3 - 4), 70 - 72. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1749 - 6632.1876. tb 00063. x
  • Cabanis, J. (1861) Uebersicht der im Berliner Museum befindlichen Vogel von Costa Rica. Journal fur Ornithologie, 9, 81 - 96. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / BF 02003806
  • Ridgway, R. (1901) New birds of the families Tanagridae and Icteridae. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 3, 149 - 155.
  • Sclater, P. L. (1862) Catalogue of a Collection of American Birds. N. Trubner and Company, London, 368 pp. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 13323
  • Salvin, O. (1888) A List of the Birds of the Islands of the Coast of Yucatan and of the Bay of Honduras. Ibis, Series 5, 6 (22), 241 - 265. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1474 - 919 X. 1888. tb 07742. x
  • Berlepsch, H. von (1883) Descriptions of six new species of birds from Southern and Central America. Ibis, Series 5, 1 (4), 487 - 494. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1474 - 919 X. 1883. tb 05204. x
  • Parkes, K. C. (1969) The Red-throated Ant-Tanager (Habia fuscicauda) in Panama and Colombia. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 82, 233 - 241.
  • Barker, F. K., Burns, K. J., Klicka, J., Lanyon, S. M. & Lovette, I. J. (2015) New insights into New World biogeography: An integrated view from the phylogeny of blackbirds, cardinals, sparrows, tanagers, warblers, and allies. The Auk: Ornithological Advances, 132 (2), 333 - 348. https: // doi. org / 10.1642 / AUK- 14 - 110.1
  • Scott, F. B. (2022) Phylogenetics of Cardinalidae and the Impact of Habitat, Climate, and Ecology on The Evolution of Color. Master Thesis, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, 155 pp.