Topic
Tyranni
About: Tyranni is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 20 publications have been published within this topic receiving 422 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Foraging group size was consistently associated with migratory behavior in both raw species and independent contrast analyses, leading to a resource variability hypothesis that refines the evolutionary precursor hypothesis and reconciles the results of several studies examining precursors to migration in birds.
Abstract: The question of why birds migrate is still poorly understood despite decades of debate Previous studies have suggested that use of edge habitats and a frugivorous diet are precursors to the evolution of migration in Neotropical birds However, these studies did not explore other ecological correlates of migration and did not control for phylogeny at the species level We tested the evolutionary precursor hypothesis by examining the extent to which habitat and diet are associated with migratory behavior, using a species-level comparative analysis of the Tyranni We used both migratory distance and sedentary versus migratory behavior as response variables We also examined the influences of foraging group size, membership in mixed-species flocks, elevational range, and body mass on migratory behavior Raw species analyses corroborated some results from studies that put forth the evolutionary precursor hypothesis, but phylogenetically independent contrast analyses highlighted an important interaction between habitat and diet and their roles as precursors to migration Foraging group size was consistently associated with migratory behavior in both raw species and independent contrast analyses Our results lead to a resource variability hypothesis that refines the evolutionary precursor hypothesis and reconciles the results of several studies examining precursors to migration in birds
87 citations
TL;DR: A few years ago, I had my first opportunity to visit the Amazonian Basin in eastern Ecuador, and several days of mist-netting and birding within an intact forest and in surrounding disturbed habitats turned out to be a pivotal experience, crystallizing in my mind a pattern that every Neotropical ornithologist knows but whose significance has largely escaped us.
Abstract: A few years ago, I had my first opportunity to visit the Amazonian Basin in eastern Ecuador. Several days of mist-netting and birding within an intact forest and in surrounding disturbed habitats turned out to be a pivotal experience, finally crystallizing in my mind a pattern that every Neotropical ornithologist knows but whose significance has largely escaped us. I am referring to the fact that most of the birds of the forest understory belong to the large South American endemic radiation of songbirds, the suboscines, called the infraorder Tyrannides (suborder Tyranni) by Sibley and Ahlquist (1990). This clade includes the ovenbirds, woodcreepers, antbirds, manakins, cotingas, and flycatchers, among others. Birds more familiar to North Americans, the oscine passerines (suborder Passeri), including the New World orioles, tanagers, and emberizine finches, dominate the forest canopy and habitats outside the forest, along with a few species-rich clades of tyrannine flycatchers (family Tyrannidae, subfamily Tyranninae). South America was an isolated island continent
60 citations
1 Jan 2003
TL;DR: Despite the possibility of being learned, vocalization should also be used in the taxonomic studies of oscine passerines, including the overestimation of the vocal characters in suboscine alpha taxonomy due to the alleged importance of vocalization under the framework of the species mate recognition system.
Abstract: The difference in treatment of vocal features in Oscines and Suboscines passerine birds characterizes a large portion of the current studies on their taxonomy. In the former taxon, vocalization is supposed to be molded by learning, and consequently is not regarded as taxonomically informative. In the latter, a strong emphasis is given to vocalization because it supposedly reflects the genetic structure of populations. This paper reviews the various assumptions related to this difference in treatment, including the overestimation of the vocal characters in suboscine alpha taxonomy due to the alleged importance of vocalization under the framework of the species mate recognition system. The innate origin of suboscine vocalizations remains to be rigorously demonstrated and the use of vocalization as “super-characters” is prejudicial to bird taxonomy. Despite the possibility of being learned, vocalization should also be used in the taxonomic studies of oscine passerines.
27 citations
TL;DR: Ecological niche modeling indicates that the new Scytalopus perijanus currently has a restricted geographic range within the Serranía de Perijá, where large extents of natural habitat have been cleared and fragmented, particularly on the Colombian slopes.
Abstract: We describe Scytalopus perijanus (Perija Tapaculo), a new species in the family Rhinocryptidae (suborder Tyranni) found in humid montane and elfin forests (1,600–3,225 m elevation) in the Serrania de Perija of Colombia and Venezuela. Although specimens of this taxon have been available in museums since 1941, they were not carefully studied and were ascribed to different taxa of the latebricola and atratus groups. We obtained a modern series of specimens that, coupled with analysis of vocal and genetic data, clarified this taxonomic puzzle. The new Scytalopus exhibits distinctive morphological and vocal traits with respect to all other known species and represents a differentiated evolutionary lineage within a clade of northern species, including S. meridanus, S. caracae, and S. latebricola. The new species has not been recorded in sympatry with any other Scytalopus, but it may overlap at lower elevations with S. atratus nigricans, although each uses different microhabitats. Ecological niche model...
23 citations
TL;DR: Two truncated CR1 loci in passerine birds are presented, not only found in representatives of Corvinae, but also in the West-African Picathartes species which provide new evidence for a closer relationship of these species to Corvidae than has previously been thought.
21 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2015 | 1 |