Milá B., Bruxaux J., Friis G., Sam K., Ashari H., Thébaud C. (2021). A new, undescribed species of
Melanocharis berrypecker from western New Guinea and the evolutionary history of the family Melanocharitidae. Ibis, first published: 11 june 2021.
Abstract.
Western New Guinea remains one of the last biologically underexplored regions of the world, and much remains to be learned regarding the diversity and evolutionary history of its fauna and flora. During a recent ornithological expedition to the Kumawa Mountains in West Papua, we encountered an undescribed species of
Melanocharis berrypecker (Melanocharitidae) in cloud forest at an elevation of 1200 m asl. Its main characteristics are iridescent blue-black upperparts, satin-white underparts washed lemon yellow, and white outer edges to the external rectrices. Initially thought to represent a close relative of the Mid-mountain Berrypecker
Melanocharis longicauda based on elevation and plumage colour traits, a complete phylogenetic analysis of the genus based on full mitogenomes and genome-wide nuclear data revealed that the new species, which we name Satin Berrypecker
Melanocharis citreola sp. nov., is in fact sister to the phenotypically dissimilar Streaked Berrypecker
M. striativentris. Phylogenetic relationships within the family Melanocharitidae, including all presently recognized genera (
Toxorhamphus, Oedistoma, Rhamphocharis and
Melanocharis), reveal that this family endemic to the island of New Guinea diversified during the main uplift of New Guinea in the Middle and Late Miocene (14-6 Mya), and represents an evolutionary radiation with high disparity in bill morphology and signalling traits across species.
Rhamphocharis berrypeckers fall within the
Melanocharis clade despite their larger beaks, and should be included in the latter genus. Interspecific genetic distances in
Melanocharis are pronounced (average interspecific distance: 8.8% in COI, 12.4% in ND2), suggesting a long history of independent evolution of all lineages corresponding to currently recognized species, including the Satin Berrypecker
, which shares a most recent common ancestor with its sister species in the early Pleistocene (~2.0 Mya).
Melanocharis citreola sp. nov. Milá, Ashari & Thébaud
Holotype. – Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB), Cibinong, West Java, Indonesia, MZB
catalog number 34796, male, Kumawa Mountains, Bomberai Peninsula, West Papua province,
Indonesia, elevation 1191 m asl, S 4.01134°, W 133.08751°, mist-netted on November 17, 2014;
prepared by Suparno (MZB-LIPI).
Diagnosis. – The new species can be readily assigned to
Melanocharis by the stout black bill and
iridescent blue-black upper parts contrasting with lighter underparts. It can be distinguished from
all other members of the genus by the satin-white underparts, washed lemon yellow. It has a white
outer vane of the outermost rectrix, compared to the two outermost rectrices in M. longicauda,
which is also smaller and has yellowish-grey underparts.
M. versteri has a longer tail with more
extensive white patches on several external rectrices, and grey underparts.
Description of holotype. – Adult male (Fig. 3a, b, Table 2). Bill and legs black. Iris dark brown.
Plumage coloration: Crown, back and rump iridescent blue-black; throat, breast, belly and vent
bright satiny white washed lemon yellow, with lemon wash especially pronounced in the throat,
breast and belly, lighter on flanks; underwing feathers white; sharp malar line separating blue-
black face from white throat; thigh feathers black, contrasting with white belly; wing feathers
black, with white internal edges on primaries and secondaries; tail feathers entirely iridescent blueblack,
except for the outermost rectrices, which have the proximal 80% of the outer vane coloured
white (including the feather rachis), with the distal 3-4 mm of the white patch tapering off
diagonally towards the external edge of the vane (Fig. 3b). Testes enlarged.
