World, meet the #NewBirdOnTheBlock! Today we formally describe Calandrella cinerea rufipecta ssp. nov.—a vulnerable #African #relic species, and evaluate #species delimitation in #larks. Read #OpenAccess:

https://doi.org/10.3390/d12110428

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#ornithology #birds #taxonomy #conservation

The word rufipecta means "red chest", referring to the diagnostic russet breast band in this unique #Nigerian lark. Its closest Red-capped Lark neighbours are in DR Congo, but its closest relatives are in East #Africa! This is a #relic lineage from large past distribution!

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It only occurs on the Jos Plateau in Nigeria, discovered in 1958 and spotted scarcely. Rediscovered near @aploritwit1 in 2004, it's uncommon, extremely localised, and likely #threatened. We hope our description will promote #conservation efforts!

3/12

But we did not only describe a new taxon, we explored the #taxonomy of the whole genus Calandrella, measuring hundreds of specimens in natural history #museum collections, and analysing species delimitation based on mitochondrial #DNA. The larks differ little in shape...

4/12

...but there's some substantial #genetic divergence. We've previously uncovered several taxonomic surprises (see https://10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.032) and here, molecular species delimitation suggests that East African and Nigerian larks may be a separate #species.

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However, we argue that a fully #IntegrativeTaxonomy approach should be adopted, analysing vocalisation and more nuclear DNA.

We also pay special attention to another Calandrella clade, the Hume's Short-toed Lark complex, but again recommend further research.

6/12

Here, we are sorry for the #nomenclature mess, but things will get awkward... The holotype for C. a. acutirostris is genetically determined as C. a. tibetana, the easternmost taxon. There are two more clades in the Ladakh area, and a fourth further west. Another time!

7/12

We did not want to apply molecular species delimitation on a single genus, and instead ran mPTP ( https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btx025) on the whole lark family Alaudidae, vacuuming GenBank for cytochrome b sequences, and producing some new.

8/12

Some interesting patterns emerged, some for the first time! Several species splits were inferred between #fragmented NW African and E African/Arabian populations: Alaemon alaudipes, Ammomanes cinctura, A. deserti.

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In addition to the Red-capped Lark C. cinerea, another sub-Saharan species complex with fragmented distributions is Mirafra africana–hypermetra. Here, we found deep splits dating to mid-Pliocene and Miocene! Strong indication of overlooked #diversity and #cryptic species!

10/12

Larks may be mostly brown, but they are fascinating!

I have done this study together with @AlstromPer, @BengtHanssonLU, U Olsson, @MarkFHulme & U Ottosson. Much lark measuring happened at @NHM_Tring, where the new C. c. rufipecta holotype sports a scruffy look.

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IMAGE CREDS
C. c. rufipecta: @MarkFHulme—hand, R Mcgregor—field, @birdnerdfaansie—illustration
C. acutirostris: B Zetterström
APLORI: @ivandesamtee
A. alaudipes: Supreet Sahoo—CC BY-SA 4.0— https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greater_Hoopoe_Lark_-_Kutch,_crop.jpg
M. africana: Patko erika—CC BY 2.0— https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mirafra_africana_1.jpg

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