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Taxonomy in-flux updates (1 Viewer)

Mysticete

Mysticete

Well-known member
United States
Seems like it might make more sense to have one thread to cover updates to the site, rather than scatter them everywhere, or have to create new threads for groups without existing ones.

Anyway, the most recent one:

July 25​


Loons:There's only one relevant work on Loons, Sprengelmeyer's (2014) MA thesis.He provided a complete phylogeny, and also found that the split between theRed-throated Loon and the others occurred over 20 million years ago_Obviously, subfamilies are needed. I've moved the Red-throated Loon to genus Eudytes (Illiger, 1811) and subfamily Eudytinae.

[Gaviidae, Aequornithes I, 3.07]

Sort of feels like TiF is heavily going into reorganizing birds and using molecular clock data to separate out genera and higher ranks. Not sure I entirely agree that the differences within loons (or for that matter darters) necessarily warrants subfamily recognition. On the other hand it seems a more rational use of this data than some have argued.
 
I do not understand this interpretation of Eudytes at all.

Illiger included in this genus Colymbus septemtrionalis [sic] L. and C. arcticus L., also citing immer and glacialis in the synonymy of the latter. In 1853, Reichenbach designated Colymbus arcticus L. as the type. What, exactly, makes this designation invalid ? Why should we treat "Eudytes ILLIGER" in Reichenbach 1853 as something else than Eudytes Illiger ?
 
l_raty said:
I do not understand this interpretation of Eudytes at all.

Illiger included in this genus Colymbus septemtrionalis [sic] L. and C. arcticus L., also citing immer and glacialis in the synonymy of the latter. In 1853, Reichenbach designated Colymbus arcticus L. as the type. What, exactly, makes this designation invalid ? Why should we treat "Eudytes ILLIGER" in Reichenbach 1853 as something else than Eudytes Illiger ?
Click to expand...
I keep Eudytes for stellatus otherwise I don't have a genus for this species.
 
Hellmayr & Conover
VOLUME XIII, PART I, NUMBER 2

AUGUST 18, 1948
says among other things:
Linnaeus =Colymbus immer Briinnich.

Eudytes Illiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. Av., p. 282, 1811 type, by subs, desig.

(Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 26, p. 486, 1898), Colymbus sep-

tentrionalis Linnaeus =Colymbus stellatus Pontoppidan.
Den Danske Atlas eller Konge-Riget Dannemark - GDZ .
Colymbus stellatus PONTOPPIDAN, Danske Atlas, I, 1763, 621. (Based on Colymbus maximus stellatus of Willughby, which. Lonnberg identifies as Colymbus lumme .
Vol 26 (1898) - Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum - Biodiversity Heritage Library .
 
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From IRMNG Homonyms:
Eudytes
Eudytes Oken, 1817 accepted as Eudytes Oken, 1817 · Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Aves (Class) > Passeriformes (Order) > Motacillidae (Family)
Eudytes Illiger, 1811 (uncertain)· Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Aves (Class) > Aves (awaiting allocation) (Order) > Aves (awaiting allocation) (Family)
Eudytes Agassiz, 1846 accepted as Eudytes Agassiz, 1846 · Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Aves (Class) > Aves (awaiting allocation) (Order) > Aves (awaiting allocation) (Family)
 
l_raty said:
I do not understand this interpretation of Eudytes at all.

Illiger included in this genus Colymbus septemtrionalis [sic] L. and C. arcticus L., also citing immer and glacialis in the synonymy of the latter. In 1853, Reichenbach designated Colymbus arcticus L. as the type. What, exactly, makes this designation invalid ? Why should we treat "Eudytes ILLIGER" in Reichenbach 1853 as something else than Eudytes Illiger ?
Click to expand...
How can we know that the Eudytes used by Reichenbach is that of Illiger?
 
Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:
How can we know that the Eudytes used by Reichenbach is that of Illiger?
Click to expand...

Reichenbach 1853 wrote :

Avium systema naturale - Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Biodiversity Heritage Library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
www.biodiversitylibrary.org www.biodiversitylibrary.org

Avium systema naturale - Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Biodiversity Heritage Library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community.
www.biodiversitylibrary.org www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Genera et Species typicae.
[...]
1. * Eudytes lLLIGER. arcticus (Col. — L.) Ill. [...]
Click to expand...
...where :
  • "Eudytes ILLIGER" is the Genus Eudytes, explicitly attributed to Illiger.
  • "[Eudytes] arcticus (Col. — L.) Ill." is its Species typica, which is here indicated as having been originally described as "Col. —", i.e., Colymbus arcticus, by "L.", i.e., Linnaeus, and first placed in Eudytes by "Ill.", i.e., Illiger.
I'm not sure how one could be more explicit than this.


That said, the current rules are actually extremely permissive in this regard. What the current Code says is:
67.7. Status of incorrect citations
If, in fixing the type species for a nominal genus or subgenus, an author wrongly attributes the name of the type species, or of the genus or subgenus, to an author or date other than that denoting its first establishment, or cites wrongly the first express inclusion of nominal species in that genus or subgenus, he or she is nevertheless to be considered, if the nominal species was otherwise eligible, to have validly fixed the type species. [...]
Click to expand...
...thus any designation, as the type of any Eudytes, attributed to whomever you may want, of one of the eligible nominal species would have to be accepted as concerning Eudytes Illiger 1811.
The only things that really matter in a type designation are the name and the eligibility of the designated nominal species.

(Beware that things have not always been so. Some early type designations which are perfectly valid under the current Code have been rejected in the past by authors using the rules that were in force in their time, which in some cases resulted in the acceptation of a type that is not the species designated in the first designation. The changes in the nomenclatural rules have retroactive effect -- rejections that are not justified under the current rules must be treated as unjustified, even if they were justified when the case was acted upon. The only recourse the Code offers, if reverting to the earliest designation is seen as problematic, is to ask the Commission to use its Plenary Powers to set this designation aside.)
 
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Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:
I hadn't seen that one
Click to expand...
It's very well known though, and so far as I know universally accepted. (More than 100 genus-group names are available from the text of this work, and links to it have been posted here quite a few times, so I'm not sure how you managed not to have seen it yet.) This is the same thing : Abt.2:Bd.1;Abt.3:Bd.4:pt.1 (1836-1847) [Text] - Die vollständigste Naturgeschichte der Vögel - Biodiversity Heritage Library . The text has been dated to 1852 (and, when considered together with the plates it complemented Abt.2:Bd.1 [Plates] (1836) - Die vollständigste Naturgeschichte der Vögel - Biodiversity Heritage Library , it is cited as "Reichenbach 1849-52" or "Reichenbach 1849-53"). I discussed the date of publication of the text here : Gruiformes .

Jim LeNomenclatoriste said:
Reminds me of the case with Turdus
Click to expand...
In the case of Turdus, the designation was historically early, and it has been argued that Selby in 1825 did not use the word 'type' in its current sense. No such argument could be advanced against a designation published in 1853.
 

Aves—A Taxonomy in Flux: Recent Changes

Avian Taxonomy
jboyd.net

Update, July 29: Unfortunately, Eudytes doesn't work. I had thought that the type had been established by Ogilvie-Grant (1898), but Reichenbach (1853) got there first, and established the type as articus (Arctic Loon). This means there is no available name for a genus consisting solely of the Red-throated Loon. As a result, I'm using "Gavia", which is not to be confused with Gavia.

[Gaviidae, Aequornithes I, 3.07a]
 

August 6​


Cormorants: Genus UpdatesThis took longer than expected to write up, partly because writing it upconvinced me to take a closer look at certain issues. The key papers areKennedy et al. (2023) and Rawlence et al. (2022). We start with the genuschanges:


  • The Long-tailed Cormorant / Reed Cormorant, Afrocarbo africanus Crowned Cormorant, Afrocarbo coronatus are transferred to genus Afrocarbo (Kennedy et al., 2023), type coronatus.
  • The extinct Spectacled or Pallas's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus is transferred to the monotypic genus Pallasicarbo (Coues, 1899).
  • Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus, Pelagic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, and Red-faced Cormorant, Phalacrocorax urile are transferred to genus Urile (Bonaparte, 1855), type urile.
  • The European Shag, Gulosus aristotelis, is transferred to the monotypic genus Gulosus (Montagu, 1813).
  • The Flightless Cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi, Neotropic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, and Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus are transferred to genus Nannopterum (Sharpe, 1899), type harrisi.
  • Finally, the remainder of the cormorants, consisting of the Magellan Cormorant or Rock Shag, Phalacrocorax magellanicus through the Macquarie Shag, Phalacrocorax purpurascens are transferred to genus Leucocarbo (Bonaparte, 1857), type bougainvillii.

The next order of business is to correct the specific epithet of theGuanay Cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii tobougainvilliorum. See Elliot (2020).


Cormorants: Splits and Lumps


I've split the Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, into4 species:


  1. North Atlantic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
  2. Moroccan Cormorant, Phalacrocorax maroccanus
  4. Australasian Cormorant, Phalacrocorax novaehollandiae
  6. Eurasian Cormornat, Phalacrocorax sinensis, including hanedae

The Great Cormorant complex also includes theJapanese Cormorant, Phalacrocorax capillatus, and the previously splitWhite-breasted Cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus.


There are several changes in Leucocarbo. First,I've split the Foveaux Shag, Leucocarbo stewarti fromLeucocarbo chalconotus. Finally, there are also 4 lumps:


  1. The Chatham Shag, Leucocarbo onslowi is now included in the Otago Shag, Leucocarbo chalconotus
  2. The Antarctic Shag, Leucocarbo bransfieldensis, and the Crozet Shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis, have been merged as Antarctic Shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis.
  3. The Kerguelen Shag, Leucocarbo verrucosus, Heard Island Shag, Leucocarbo nivalis, and Macquarie Shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens have been merged as Subantarctic Shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens.

One last comment is that I can't see how the phylogeny of the South Americanand Indo-Atlantic shags can be reconciled with the subantarctic islands beinguninhabitable by shags as recently as the previous glacial maximum, which endedabout 20k years ago. Something must be wrong here, but I'm not sure whatit could be.


[Phalacrocoracidae, Aequornithes II, 3.07]
 
Mysticete said:

August 6​


Cormorants: Genus UpdatesThis took longer than expected to write up, partly because writing it upconvinced me to take a closer look at certain issues. The key papers areKennedy et al. (2023) and Rawlence et al. (2022). We start with the genuschanges:


  • The Long-tailed Cormorant / Reed Cormorant, Afrocarbo africanus Crowned Cormorant, Afrocarbo coronatus are transferred to genus Afrocarbo (Kennedy et al., 2023), type coronatus.
  • The extinct Spectacled or Pallas's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax perspicillatus is transferred to the monotypic genus Pallasicarbo (Coues, 1899).
  • Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus, Pelagic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pelagicus, and Red-faced Cormorant, Phalacrocorax urile are transferred to genus Urile (Bonaparte, 1855), type urile.
  • The European Shag, Gulosus aristotelis, is transferred to the monotypic genus Gulosus (Montagu, 1813).
  • The Flightless Cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisi, Neotropic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, and Double-crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus are transferred to genus Nannopterum (Sharpe, 1899), type harrisi.
  • Finally, the remainder of the cormorants, consisting of the Magellan Cormorant or Rock Shag, Phalacrocorax magellanicus through the Macquarie Shag, Phalacrocorax purpurascens are transferred to genus Leucocarbo (Bonaparte, 1857), type bougainvillii.

The next order of business is to correct the specific epithet of theGuanay Cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii tobougainvilliorum. See Elliot (2020).


Cormorants: Splits and Lumps


I've split the Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, into4 species:


  1. North Atlantic Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
  2. Moroccan Cormorant, Phalacrocorax maroccanus
  4. Australasian Cormorant, Phalacrocorax novaehollandiae
  6. Eurasian Cormornat, Phalacrocorax sinensis, including hanedae

The Great Cormorant complex also includes theJapanese Cormorant, Phalacrocorax capillatus, and the previously splitWhite-breasted Cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus.


There are several changes in Leucocarbo. First,I've split the Foveaux Shag, Leucocarbo stewarti fromLeucocarbo chalconotus. Finally, there are also 4 lumps:


  1. The Chatham Shag, Leucocarbo onslowi is now included in the Otago Shag, Leucocarbo chalconotus
  2. The Antarctic Shag, Leucocarbo bransfieldensis, and the Crozet Shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis, have been merged as Antarctic Shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis.
  3. The Kerguelen Shag, Leucocarbo verrucosus, Heard Island Shag, Leucocarbo nivalis, and Macquarie Shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens have been merged as Subantarctic Shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens.

One last comment is that I can't see how the phylogeny of the South Americanand Indo-Atlantic shags can be reconciled with the subantarctic islands beinguninhabitable by shags as recently as the previous glacial maximum, which endedabout 20k years ago. Something must be wrong here, but I'm not sure whatit could be.


[Phalacrocoracidae, Aequornithes II, 3.07]
Click to expand...
Interesting work. How likely is this to be adopted by IOC?
 
Bismarck Honeyeater said:
Interesting work. How likely is this to be adopted by IOC?
Click to expand...
What aspect?

I'm not terribly convinced by the Great Cormorant splits personally. They might be valid, but I don't think there is enough evidence yet, given that divergences are somewhat young, hybridization is apparent, and morphological differences don't seem that significant.
 
Mysticete said:
What aspect?

I'm not terribly convinced by the Great Cormorant splits personally. They might be valid, but I don't think there is enough evidence yet, given that divergences are somewhat young, hybridization is apparent, and morphological differences don't seem that significant.
Click to expand...
That was the aspect I had in mind. It’s the first time I’ve seen it mooted in print.
 

August 9​


New Genus Name (Burhinidae):Černý, van Els, Natale, and Gregory (2023) proposed a new genusname for one of the thick-knees (Burhinidae). The name isHesperoburhinus and the type is bistriatus. I had previouslycalled these "Burhinus" for lack of a proper name.


[Burhinidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06a]


Numenius:The whimbrels and curlews have been rearranged based on Tan et al. (2023).Also, I have split the Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, into EurasianWhimbrel, Numenius phaeopus, and Hudsonian Whimbrel, Numeniushudsonicus, based on Tan et al. (2019).


[Scolopacidae, Charadriiformes, 3.06a]


Genetic Data:There are a lot of species where Černý and Natale (2022) could not find usable DNA. The TiF shorebird species trees now mark all specieswhere Černý and Natale (2022) did have DNA with a trailing redstar. Black stars indicate DNA from other sources I consulted. Most Numenius have red stars. All have black stars due to Tan et al.(2023).


Cormorants: Genus UpdatesI decided to follow the suggestion from Jim LeNomenclatoriste on BirdForum to add two more genera for two cormorants that are on relatively long branches and are sufficiently different from the other birds they shared agenus with to get their own genus. Thus


  • Little Pied Cormorant, Microcarbo melanoleucos, moves to the monotypic genus Melanocarbo (Bernstein, 1883).
  • Brandt's Cormorant, Urile penicillatus, moves to the monotypic genus Compsohalieus (Baird, Brewer, & Ridgway, 1884).

Indo-Atlantic Shag Phylogeny (Again): In the end, I decided that this part of the Rawlence et al. (2022) phylogeny was just too unreliable. The Bayesian posterior probabilitiesare way too low to put any credence in it. Since all of these taxa arequite new, since the last glacial maximum, I decided to treat them as subspecies. There's no trustworthy data for them, and I just distributed them one way they used to be. Thus


  • The taxa georgianus, bransfieldensis, and nivalis are treated as subspecies of the Imperial Cormorant, Leucocarbo atriceps.
  • The taxa melanogenis, verrucosus and purpurascens are treated as subspecies of the Falkland Cormorant, Leucocarbo albiventer.

[Phalacrocoracidae, Aequornithes II, 3.07a]
 

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