Integrative taxonomy reveals hidden diversity in the Catharus fuscater (Passeriformes: Turdidae) complex in Central and South America
Author
Halley, Maưhew R.
Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 19104
Author
Catanach, Therese A.
Ornithology Department, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 19103
Author
Klicka, John
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seaưle, Washington, USA, 98105
Author
Weckstein, Jason D.
Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 19104 & Ornithology Department, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 19103
text
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2023
2023-07-07
199
1
228
262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad031
journal article
266146
10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad031
b9190aec-ed9f-4c04-8914-daa1913ef189
0024-4082
8326302
Catharus hellmayri
Berlepsch 1902
Talamanca nightingale-thrush
(
Fig. 13
)
Catharus fuscater hellmayri
Berlepsch 1902: 69
; Ridgway 1907: 24;
Carriker 1910: 748
; Nelson 1912: 24;
Hellmayr 1934: 464
; Slud 1964: 301; Wetmore
et al.
1984: 155; Ridgley and Gwynne 1989: 352; Phillips 1991: 112;
Clement 2000: 299
;
Collar 2005: 700
;
Halley 2020
;
Halley 2021
.
Catharus fuscater
Salvin 1867: 132
;
Lawrence 1868: 9
;
Frantzius 1869: 289
; Salvin 1870: 180; Salvin and Godman 1879: 5 (in part); Ridgway 1881: 333; Zeledon 1885: 104;
Bangs 1902: 50
; Meyer de Schauensee 1964: 317 (in part); Powell 1979; Stiles and Skutch 1989: 368;
Loiselle and Blake 1991
; Young
et al.
1993; Wolfe
et al.
2009;
Bueter
et al.
2009
;
Jankowski
et al.
2010
;
Kounek
et al.
2013
.
Catharus hellmayri
Sharpe 1902: 182
;
Davis 1972: 176
.
Type
material
Monotypic species.
SMF 53156
(
holotype
), study skin, adult male, collected by
E. Gounelle
in ‘
Panama
, Veragua, Chiriquí’. This specimen was not examined in this study. Label data were provided by
G. Mayr
(
in litt.
)
.
Geographic range
Northern mountains of
Costa Rica
(Rincón de la Vieja, Miravalles, Tenorio) to west-central
Panama
(Parque Nacional Santa Fé,
Veraguas
).
Adult specimens examined
Catharus hellmayri
(
N
= 64):
Costa Rica
(
N
= 34):
Cartago
(
five males
,
two females
): ‘
Aqinares’
(=
Aquiares
):
AMNH 391543
(male)
;
Cervantes
:
USNM 49152
(female)
;
Juan Vinas
:
CM
P28231
(male)
;
Navarro
:
AMNH 391541
(male)
,
AMNH 391542
(female)
;
Santa Cruz de Turrialba
:
AMNH 391544
(male)
;
Tierra Blanca
:
CM
P11045
(male)
;
Heredia
(
seven males
,
one female
): Cariblanco
de Sarapiquí
:
ANSP 67249
,
CM
P25349
,
P25362
,
P25368
,
USNM 199697
(males)
,
AMNH 503920
(female)
; unknown site about
24 km
. N. of
San José
:
AMNH 391539
,
AMNH 391540
(males)
;
San José
(
13 males
,
six females
):
Carrillo
:
AMNH 503916–503918
(males)
;
Guayabo
:
AMNH 391536
(male)
;
La Guaria de Dota
:
USNM 209929
(male)
,
USNM 209928
(female)
;
La Hondura
:
AMNH 391537
,
CM
P26384
,
P26393
,
P26414
,
P26423
,
P26434
,
P26445
,
P26535
(males)
,
AMNH 391538
,
CM
P26108
,
P26550
,
P26581
(females)
;
unknown locality (
one female
):
USNM 68172
.
Panama
(
N
= 30):
Chiriquí
(
11 males
,
seven females
):
Boquete
:
AMNH 503911–503913
,
FMNH 24305
207592 207595,
USNM 188572
188573 (males),
FMNH 53580
,
USNM 188570
,
USNM 188571
,
AMNH 503814
(females)
;
12.6 km
north of
Los Planes
, Gualara-Chiriquí Grande Road:
USNM 607605
(male)
,
USNM 607614
(female)
;
unknown site
23.3 km
north of
Los Planes
,
Gualara-Chiriquí Grande Road
:
USNM 607617
(male)
;
Reserva Forestal Fortuna
:
FMNH 470768
(male)
,
FMNH 470767
(female)
;
Veraguas
(
seven males
,
six females
):
AMNH 246360–246366
(males)
,
AMNH 187643
,
AMNH 246367–246371
(females).
Figure 9.
Taxonomic variation in the structure of ‘punctuation calls’, visualized in RavenPro 1.5 (Cornell University). We recognize three groups based on shared acoustic structure: (Type 1) pulsed/rippling:
C.
[
f.
]
hellmayri
, Undescribed
1,
C.
[
f.
]
mirabilis
; (Type 2) long/sinuous:
C.
[
f.
]
sanctaemartae
,
C.
[
f.
]
fuscater
,
C.
[
f.
]
berplepschi
; (Type 3) short/simple: Undescribed 2,
C.
[
f.
]
opertaneus
, Undescribed
3,
C.
[
f.
]
mentalis
.
Immature specimens examined
Catharus hellmayri
(
N
= 8):
Costa Rica
(
N
= 6):
Heredia
(
three females
):
Cariblanco
de Sarapiquí
:
AMNH 503919
,
CM
P25344
,
P25363
(females)
;
San José
(
two males
):
Guayabo
:
AMNH 391534
,
391535
(males);
Unknown Province
:
Cusoua
,
La Palma
:
USNM 85546
(male)
.
Panama
(
N
= 2):
Chiriquí
(
two females
):
Boquete
:
FMNH 207593
207594 (females)
.
Audio recordings examined
Catharus hellmayri
(
N
= 63):
Costa Rica
(
N
= 51):
Alajuela
:
Bosque de Paz Biological Reserve
: XC 107128;
Monteverde
: XC 220593;
Parque Nacional Juan Castro Blanco
, sector
Volcán Viejo
:
ML 64132091
;
Volcán Tenorio
: XC 166201, 166202
;
Cartago
:
Orosi
: XC 169247;
Parque Nacional Tapantí
:
ML 48406801
, XC 274444, 274445, 274447, 274448
;
Heredia
:
Braulio Carrillo
,
Carretera
:
ML 28234
;
Puntarenas
:
Monteverde
:
ML 28202
,
28263
,
28264
,
28269
,
32268
,
32300
,
32309
,
32327
,
32328
,
32330
,
32701
,
32715
,
53950
,
53951
,
56198
,
72831
,
72839
,
72844
,
72850
,
72854
,
74195
,
76697
,
76699
,
76703
209231 209234 209242 209244
, 219846, 220560, 220582, 220611, 220633, XC 45226, 137776, 593699
;
San José
:
Monserrat de Coronado
:
ML 59585321
;
San Gerardo de Dota
: XC 107125, 107127
.
Panama
(
N
= 12):
Chiriquí
:
Boquete
: XC 133595;
Continental Divide
, along
Gualaca-Chiriquí Rd.
:
ML 54410
; Kakintú: XC 112998; Los Planes,
Fortuna Field Station
:
ML 54207
,
54225
,
54391
,
54427
;
Reserva Forestal de Fortuna
: XC 271146, 271147, 367649
;
Ngäbe-Buglé
: Cerro Colorado: XC 78388, 145618.
Figure 10.
Taxonomic variation in the structure of ‘contact calls’, visualized in RavenPro 1.5 (Cornell University). No recording of contact calls in
C.
[
f.
]
mentalis
was available.
Figure 11.
Taxonomic variation in the structure of ‘blurred calls’, visualized in RavenPro 1.5 (Cornell University). The black line divides calls that modulate upward in frequency (left) and downward in frequency (right); both types were detected in
C.
[
f.
]
berlepschi
.
Figure 12.
Heat map showing frequency distributions of song contours within each population. Dyadic, triadic, and tetradic song contour names follow Fig. 5. Single-note songs are shown in the first column (A) and songs with five or six notes were combined into a single category, shown in the last column (FIVESIX). Open (white) circles denote song contours that were not detected in
C.
[
f.
]
hellmayri
, despite it having a much larger sample size than other taxa. Closed (black) circles denote contours that were only detected in one taxon.
Diagnosis
Genetics:
In both phylogenetic reconstructions, samples from the range of
C. hellmayri
formed a clade that was sister to the rest of the ingroup.
ABGD
and
ASAP
analyses both identified
C. hellmayri
as an independent genetic cluster. The estimated divergence time between
C. hellmayri
and the rest of the complex was 3.2 Mya (range = 2.6–3.8) and it was highly divergent from its closest geographic neighbours,
C.
[
f.
]
mirabilis
(mean uncorrected
p
-distance = 0.075) and Undescribed 1 (mean uncorrected
p
-distance = 0.076).
Morphology:
Study skins of
C. hellmayri
have darker ventral plumage than any other taxon, except
C.
[
f.
]
sanctaemartae
(
Fig. 13
); less black on the chin than
C.
[
f.
]
sanctaemartae
; and shorter tails on average than any other taxon (see:
Hellmayr 1934
).
Voice:
Catharus hellmayri
is distinguished from the South American taxa by its
Type
1 punctuation call structure (
Fig. 9
), ‘tightly spaced’ contact call structure (
Fig. 10
), and greater diversity of song contours (
Fig. 12
). It was the only taxon with a narrow-bandwidth blurred call that rose in pitch (
Fig. 11
). The song contour DACB accounted for 15% of songs in
C. hellmayri
(
N
= 27/179), but was not detected in any other clade.
Etymology
The proposed English name references the Cordillera de Talamanca, which encompasses nearly the entire range of
C. hellmayri
.