Integrative taxonomy of two highly polytypic thamnophilids (Aves: Thamnophilidae)

• Grant number: 21/10339-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: January 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Luís Fábio Silveira
• Grantee: Rafael Dantas Lima
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/23548-2 - Evaluation, recovering and conservation of endangered animal species from the Pernambuco Centre of Endemism, AP.BTA.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/13077-0 - Integrative taxonomy of two highly polytypic thamnophilids (Aves: Thamnophilidae), BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Species is a fundamental category of biological organization and, therefore, accurate species delimitation is crucial for all areas of biology. Current taxonomists recognize the importance of integrating multiple lines of evidence in species delimitation and, as a result, many species complexes formerly delimited solely on the basis of morphology have proven to comprise multiple species after integrative taxonomic revisions. However, there are many species complexes in the tropics that have never been revised using integrative taxonomic approaches, which creates a latitudinal taxonomy gradient and precludes advances in several areas, such as inference in historical biogeography, macroecology and macroevolution. Here, I intend to conduct an integrative taxonomic revision for two highly polytypic Neotropical bird species-the Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis and the Variable Antshrike Thamnophilus caerulescens. They encompass at least eighteen and twelve described subspecies, respectively, and show puzzling patterns of variation in multiple traits, such as plumage and vocalizations, but which do not clearly vary in a concerted fashion with phylogeographic structure. Some of the taxa under consideration are thought to be restricted to critically endangered areas, depicting the urgent need for a comprehensive revision to test their taxonomic validity.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LIMA, RAFAEL DANTAS. On the validity of Caryothraustes canadensis frontalis (Hellmayr, 1905) (Aves: Cardinalidae). Zootaxa, v. 5165, n. 1, p. 7-pg., 2022-07-13. (21/10339-1)

RAFAEL DANTAS LIMA; LUÍS FÁBIO SILVEIRA; RENATA CONSTANT DE AMORIM LEMOS; LAHERT WILLIAM LOBO-ARAÚJO; ARTHUR BARBOSA DE ANDRADE; MERCIVAL ROBERTO FRANCISCO; MÁRCIO AMORIM EFE. An annotated avian inventory of the Brazilian state of Alagoas, one of the world’s most threatened avifauna. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo), v. 62, 2022-10-03. (21/10339-1, 18/20249-7)

LIMA, RAFAEL DANTAS; FERNANDES, MOABE F.; DE VASCONCELOS, MARCELO FERREIRA; CARDOSO, DOMINGOS; DE QUEIROZ, LUCIANO P.. Disparate biomes within the Caatinga region are not part of the same evolutionary community: A reply to Araujo et al. (2022). JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS, v. 209, p. 8-pg., 2023-02-01. (21/10339-1)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

LIMA, Rafael Dantas. Geographic variation, population structure, behavioral discrimination, and taxonomy of the most polytypic antbirds (Aves, Thamnophilidae). 2024. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) São Paulo.