Taxonomia de Psophia viridis (Aves: Gruiformes: Psophiidae) com base em caracteres morfológicos / Taxonomy of Psophia viridis (Aves: Gruiformes: Psophiidae) based on morphological characters

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

The dark-winged trumpeters, Psophia viridis (Gruiformes, Psophiidae) are endemic of the Brazilian Amazônia, featuring three recognizable subspecies: Psophia viridis viridis Spix, 1825; Psophia v. dextralis Conover, 1934, and Psophia v. obscura Pelzeln, 1857, as well as P. v. interjecta Griscom &Greenway, 1937, whose validity has been questioned. These taxa are allopatrically distributed along the south of the Amazon River, although their ocurrence still remains unknown. This complex has never been taxonomically reviewed and this research aims to test the validity of its taxa based on the Phylogenetic Species Concept. Morphometrical characters and plumage colour patterns were analyzed, searching for the diagnostic ones for each population, also establishing the distribution for the taxa. In this study, 106 specimens of 41 localities were examined, all of the types included, with each reliable literature-based locality being included in order to delimit the geographical distribution of the complex. Morphometrical data did not point out significant differences between the taxa, also showing no sexual dimorphism among them. Meanwhile, plumage characters showed consistent and distinct patterns for each of the taxa, exception made for P. v. interjecta, whose supposedly diagnosable features are the result of an individual variation. No clinal variation or intergradation was observed, even at regions close to the Amazonian rivers headwaters, where might be contact between the populations. It is suggested that the currently accepted subspecies be elevated to the species level, such as : Psophia viridis Spix, 1825, distributed in the Madeira-Tapajós interfluve, P. dextralis, found in the Tapajós-Tocantins interfluve, and P. obscura, that occurs from the right bank of the Tocantins River to the west of the State of Maranhão (Brazil).

ASSUNTO(S)

taxonomy psophia viridis taxonomia psophia viridis psophiidae psophiidae

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