Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)

Niltavinae, a new taxon of Old World flycatchers (Aves: Muscicapidae)

“…The taxon Niltavinae is diagnosed as monophyletic on the basis of a molecular phylogeny (Sangster et al 2010). Niltavinae differs from all other Muscicapidae (sensu Sangster et al 2010) by an unambiguous synapomorphic deletion of 1 bp (Sangster et al 2010: Figure S1), corresponding to nucleotide position 64 in intron 7 of the nuclear ornithine decarboxylase gene of Gallus gallus bankiva Temminck (GenBank accession number EF552724) and position 61 in intron 7 of the nuclear ornithine decarboxylase gene of Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot) (GenBank accession number FJ408650).…”

“…The relationships among Old World chats and flycatchers (Muscicapidae) have recently been clarified in two independent molecular phylogenetic studies (Sangster et al 2010, Zuccon & Ericson 2010. Both studies recovered a well-supported clade of predominantly blue flycatchers of the genera Niltava, Cyornis, Eumyias and Cyanoptila, some species traditionally included in the genus Rhinomyias and one species traditionally included in Ficedula (F. monileger).…”

“…Both studies recovered a well-supported clade of predominantly blue flycatchers of the genera Niltava, Cyornis, Eumyias and Cyanoptila, some species traditionally included in the genus Rhinomyias and one species traditionally included in Ficedula (F. monileger). The family-group name Niltavinae Sangster, Alström, Forsmark & Olsson, 2010, was introduced for this clade (Sangster et al 2010). Unfortunately, our description of the new taxon Niltavinae did not include a diagnosis (sensu ICZN article 13.1.1) and thus inadvertently made this name unavailable for nomenclatural purposes (Zuccon 2011).…”

Molecular evidence suggests that the enigmatic Sulawesi endemic Geomalia heinrichi belongs in the genus Zoothera (Turdidae, Aves)

“…The MPBS was performed in PAUP* (Swofford, 2001): heuristic search strategy, 10000 replicates, starting trees obtained by stepwise addition (random addition sequence, 10 replicates), TBR branch swapping. Myophonus caeruleus, which is part of Muscicapidae, the sister group of Turdidae (Sangster et al, 2010), was used as outgroup in all analyses.…”

Formal Description of a New Subspecies of the European Robin from Gran Canaria Island, Spain (Aves: Muscicapidae: Erithacus rubecula marionae subsp. nov.)

“…Alone among the otherwise Afrotropical subfamily Cossyphinae [2,3], the European Robin Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) is widely distributed in the Western Palearctic and occurs in the northeastern Atlantic as a resident bird on the oceanic archipelagos of the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. Dietzen et al [1] studied the phylogeography of Robins in the Canary Islands using sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and morphometric data of specimens sampled, measured and then released.…”