Лукьянчук ОА, Марова ИМ, Редькин ЯА. 2017. Географическая изменчивость морфологических и акустических признаков северных популяций ополовника (
Aegithalos caudatus, Passeriformes, Aegithalidae).
Зоол. Журн. 96:429-438.
Lukyanchuk OA, Marova IM, Red’kin YaA. 2017. Geographic variation in morphological and acoustic features of the northern populations of Long-tailed Tits (
Aegithalos caudatus, Passeriformes, Aegithalidae).
Zool. Zhurn., 96:429-438.
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(Russian with English abstract.)
The geographical variability of morphological and bioacoustic features of long-tailed tits (
Aegithalos caudatus) was considered in populations ranging from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe to the Pacific coast, with the validity of the questioned subspecies
Ae. c. japonicus,
Ae. c. brachyurus and
Ae. c. sibiricus tested. Based on a study of 9 morphometric features and 3 characters of coloration across the distribution area of white-headed long-tailed tits, from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia to Primorye and Sakhalin, variations in these features are shown to be either slightly fluctuating or clinal. Vocalizations in the nominate subspecies were analyzed for the first time. When comparing both morphological and acoustic features of the samples from adjacent regions, no significant differences were found; hence the names
Ae. c. sibiricus and
Ae. c. brachyurus must be considered as synonymous with the nominate subspecies
Ae. c. caudatus. Only the populations of long-tailed tits from the southern Kuril Islands and Hokkaido can be regarded as a separate subspecies,
Ae. c. japonicus.
Keywords: long-tailed tit, geographic variation, geographical races,
Aegithalos caudatus, morphological characteristics, vocal repertoire, new synonymy