Morphological, vocal and genetic divergence in the Cettia acanthizoides complex (Aves: Cettiidae) |
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| Authors: | PER ALSTRÖM URBAN OLSSON PAMELA C RASMUSSEN CHENG-TE YAO PER G P ERICSON PER SUNDBERG |
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| Institution: | Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Swedish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Systematic Zoology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Zoology, University of Göteborg, Box 463, 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden; Michigan State University Museum and Department of Zoology, East Lansing, MI 48824–1045, USA; Division of Zoology, Endemic Species Research Institute, 1 Ming-shen E Road, Nantou County, Taiwan |
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| Abstract: | We used morphological, vocal and molecular (one mitochondrial and two nuclear loci) data to re-evaluate the taxonomic status of the taxa acanthizoides , concolor , and brunnescens in the Cettia acanthizoides (J. Verreaux, 1871) complex. We conclude that all three are valid taxa, and that acanthizoides of China and concolor of Taiwan are best treated as conspecific, whereas brunnescens of the Himalayas is better considered as a separate species. The degree of morphological, vocal, and genetic differentiation is variably congruent among all taxa; the recently separated acanthizoides and concolor differ slightly in plumage and structure but are indistinguishable in vocalizations, whereas the earlier diverged brunnescens and acanthizoides/concolor differ only slightly more in morphology but to a much greater degree in vocalizations. We stress the essential nature of taxonomic revisions as a prerequisite for the biodiversity estimates required for conservation planning. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 149 , 437–452. |
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| Keywords: | cytochrome b evolution glyceraldehyde-3-phosphodehydrogenase (G3PDH) intron 11 myoglobin intron 2 phylogeny taxonomy |
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