Can common biogeographic patterns and processes explain the taxonomy of Cichlocolaptes and Heliobletus (Aves: Furnariidae), two genera endemic to the Atlantic Forest?

• Grant number: 23/11086-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Luís Fábio Silveira
• Grantee: Ruan Vieira Vaz
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/03305-4 - Ornithology collections as a source of knowledge for understanding the taxonomy of Cichlocolaptes and Heliobletus and for developing museomics in Brazil., BE.EP.MS

Abstract

In the Atlantic Forest, representatives of two endemic bird genera, Cichlocolaptes and Heliobletus, have important gaps in the knowledge of their taxonomy, systematics and biogeography. There is evidence in plumage and vocalization to suspect that the subspecies of C. leucophrus may be full species, there is a lack of adequate description of northern populations of H. contaminatus, and there is evidence of a new species of the genus in the mountains of the state of Bahia. In this project, we will review the taxonomy of representatives of both genera based on morphological and bioacoustic data, which will be collected, respectively, from zoological collections and virtual databases. This dataset will be used to determine whether there are significant differences between the groups of each genus, via multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and in the description of possible new taxa. Molecular data will also be collected from the collections, using tissues preserved in ethanol and toepads. Molecular analyzes will be carried out through the sequencing of ultra-conserved genome elements (UCEs) and subsequent extraction of single nucleotide variations (SNPs). We will identify the number of ancestral populations and whether there is molecular evidence to consider the subordinate taxa as full species. We will calculate genetic diversity indices, useful for conservation, in addition to performing a phylogenetic analysis and calculating demographic parameters. The geographic distribution of the two genera is surprising and considerably overlapping, and they seem to show common diversification patterns. In this project, we will analyze, based on demographic parameters, whether there is evidence to support that the diversification of the two genera happened synchronously, suggesting that the same diversification processes explain the diversification of these birds in the Atlantic Forest.

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; VAZ, RUAN VIEIRA. Divergence in vocalizations indicates cryptic speciation in Camptostoma tyrannulets. AUK, v. N/A, p. 17-pg., 2024-12-21. (21/10339-1, 23/11086-5)