Taxonomic revision of the Square-tailed Drongo species complex (Passeriformes: Dicruridae) with description of a new species from western Africa

Abstract

We describe a new species of drongo in the Square-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus ludwigii) complex using a combination of biometric and genetic data. The new species differs from previously described taxa in the Square-tailed Drongo complex by possessing a significantly heavier bill and via substantial genetic divergence (6.7%) from its sister-species D. sharpei. The new species is distributed across the gallery forests of coastal Guinea, extending to the Niger and Benue Rivers of Nigeria. We suspect that this taxon was overlooked by previous avian systematists because they either lacked comparative material from western Africa or because the key diagnostic morphological character (bill characteristics) was not measured. We provide an updated taxonomy of the Square-tailed Drongo species complex.

Phylogeographical history of the Olive Woodpecker Dendropicos griseocephalus, a species widely distributed across Africa

“…g. ruwenzori ) and are slightly smaller than the nucleotide divergence recovered among D. ludwigii lineages (Dxy range 0.016–0.0359; Fuchs et al . 2017a, 2018). According to the topology, the only individual we sampled from within the Ruwenzori Mountains on the border of Uganda and the DRC ( ruwenzori subspecies sensu stricto ; FMNH 438793) is nested within the putative persimilis subspecies, making the latter paraphyletic and reinforcing the view that ruwenzori and persimilis should be considered synonyms, with ruwenzori having priority.…”

“…The phylogeographical structure in the Olive Woodpecker differs from the pattern described in the co‐distributed Square‐tailed Drongo Dicrurus ludwigii with respect to the sequence of divergence among the primary lineages; in the Olive Woodpecker, the Southern lineage ( griseocephalus ) diverged first and the Central African lineage ( ruwenzori ) is sister to the Eastern Arc Mountain lineage ( kilimensis ), whereas in the Square‐tailed Drongo, the Eastern Arc lineage diverged first and the southern lineage is sister to the Central African lineage (Fuchs et al . 2017a, 2018). Similar to our findings for the Olive Woodpecker, Bowie et al .…”

“…Fuchs et al . 2017b, 2018; primers listed in Table S2). To increase geographical sampling, we also extracted DNA from toe‐pad samples using a previously described protocol (e.g.…”

“…2006; Dicrurus adsimilis , Fuchs et al . 2018; Cercotrichas coryphaeus , Ribeiro et al . 2011, 2019; C. signata , Ribeiro et al .…”

“…Fuchs et al . (2017a, 2018) documented high levels of genetic differentiations for the Square‐tailed Drongo Dicrurus ludwigii spp. among the three primary lineages recovered (e.g.…”