ABSTRACT
Gustav Adolf Fischer (18481886) was an important German naturalist and ornithological collector in Africa. The extensive ornithological collections from his several expeditions were sent to at least two different museums (Zoological Museum Berlin and Zoological Museum Hamburg), and to a smaller extent, some private sales are assumed. Together with Anton Reichenow, Fischer described many species new to science, so the many types in the collections make them especially important. We located 616 bird specimens in the collections of the Museum fr Naturkunde Berlin and the Museum der Natur Hamburg along with a few further specimens in the collections of the Museum Heineanum Halberstadt, the Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden, The Natural History Museum-UK (Tring), the American Museum of Natural History, New York and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. Among these, type specimens for 133 species and subspecies of birds were traced. For all of them, an update of the collecting localities with particular emphasis on some previously unknown locations is provided. A taxonomic update of the described species is given and a designation of lectotypes for the following four taxa was necessary: Francolinus Altumi G.A. Fischer & Reichenow, 1884, Accipiter minullus tropicalis Reichenow, 1898, Hypochera ultramarina var. orientalisReichenow, 1894 and Spinus citrinelloides frontalis Reichenow, 1904b.
Subject(s)
Biodiversity , Birds , Animals , Africa, Eastern , MuseumsABSTRACT
The ornithological collection of the Museum fr Naturkunde Berlin houses an important collection of birds of the genus Batis, with many type specimens used in descriptions dating from the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Some of these scientific names are still in use today, but others are synonyms. We herein provide an updated list of all this type material for 10 names (species and subspecies) with 34 types and 21 paratypes, and we designate a lectotype for Batis puella Reichenow, 1893.
Subject(s)
Birds , Museums , AnimalsABSTRACT
Billions of birds migrate from the Palaearctic to sub-Saharan Africa, yet we are unaware about where exactly they stay over winter and how consistent they have been using these wintering areas over historical times. Here, we inferred the historical wintering areas of Eurasian Golden Orioles (Oriolus oriolus) from stable isotope ratios of feathers. Over the past 200 years, Golden Orioles used two major wintering grounds. Between 1895 and 1971, the relative use of these areas depended on local rainfall intensities. Golden Orioles may depend strongly on humid wintering areas in sub-Saharan Africa, which may put this species at stake when the global climate continues to change.
Subject(s)
Animal Migration , Passeriformes , Africa South of the Sahara , Animals , Nitrogen Isotopes/analysis , SeasonsABSTRACT
The correct affiliation of Sabrina Lo Brutto is shown in this paper.
ABSTRACT
At least 32 bird species were described as new to science on the basis of material collected by Franz Meyen during his circumnavigation in 1830-1832. We identified the type specimens and determined the type localities of these species, which are currently housed in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. Ardea longicollis Meyen, 1834, is identified as a senior synonym of Egretta eulophotes (Swinhoe, 1860), but is set aside as a nomen oblitum. The name of a Neotropical dove is corrected from Metriopelia ceciliae zimmeri (Peters, 1937) to Metriopelia ceciliae gymnops (Chubb, 1917). A lectotype is designated for Nectarinia philippensis Meyen, 1834a.
Subject(s)
Birds , Animals , Columbidae , Germany , MuseumsABSTRACT
The type locality of Pterocles exustus Temminck, 1825, is 'West coast of Africa, Egypt and Nubia'. This is problematic because it includes the type locality of Pterocles exustus floweri (Nicoll, 1921), which is Fayum, Egypt. In the interest of clarification and to preserve stability of nomenclature, a non-Egyptian specimen from the type series of Pterocles exustus is designated as lectotype of the taxon, and the type locality is restricted to Senegal.
ABSTRACT
The Prussian naturalist Friedrich Sellow (1789-1831) traveled through Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina between 1814 and 1831 gathering numerous zoological and botanical specimens. Despite the effort spent in those countries, the ornithological collection assembled by Sellow did not receive adequate care after it had been deposited in the Zoologische Museum in Berlin, thus compromising its integrity. In the present article we discuss the treatment given by Lichtenstein and by Sellow to this bird material, with special focus on some cases in which incorrect label information on Sellow's specimens led to faulty conclusions on the zoogeography of South American birds.
Subject(s)
Zoology/history , Animals , Birds/classification , Brazil , Female , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , Humans , Museums/history , Travel/historyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Sympatric corvid species have evolved differences in nesting, habitat choice, diet and foraging. Differences in the frequency with which corvid species use their repertoire of feeding techniques is expected to covary with bill-shape and with the frontal binocular field. Species that frequently probe are expected to have a relatively longer bill and more sidewise oriented orbits in contrast to species that frequently peck. We tested this prediction by analyzing computed tomography scans of skulls of six corvid species by means of three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. We (1) explored patterns of major variation using principal component analysis, (2) compared within and between species relationships of size and shape and (3) quantitatively compared patterns of morphological integration between bill and cranium by means of partial least squares (singular warp) analysis. RESULTS: Major shape variation occurs at the bill, in the orientation of orbits, in the position of the foramen magnum and in the angle between bill and cranium. The first principal component correlated positively with centroid-size, but within-species allometric relationships differed markedly. Major covariation between the bill and cranium lies in the difference in orbit orientation relative to bill-length and in the angle between bill and cranium. CONCLUSION: Corvid species show pronounced differences in skull shape, which covary with foraging mode. Increasing bill-length, bill-curvature and sidewise orientation of the eyes is associated with an increase in the observed frequency in probing (vice versa in pecking). Hence, the frequency of probing, bill-length, bill-curvature and sidewise orientation of the eyes is progressively increased from jackdaw, to Eurasian jay, to black-billed magpie, to hooded crow, to rook and to common raven (when feeding on carcasses is considered as probing). Our results on the morphological integration suggest that most of the covariation between bill and cranium is due to differences in the topography of the binocular fields and the projection of the bill-tip therein, indicating the importance of visual fields to the foraging ecology of corvids.
ABSTRACT
The taxonomy of the bustards is poorly understood phylogenetically and has not been extensively evaluated using molecular methods. We sequenced part of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, the control region (central domain II), and an intron-exon crossing fragment of the nuclear chromo-helicase-DNA binding gene (CHD1) in 27 bustard taxa (including multiple subspecies) representing 11 genera and four gruiform outgroup species. Molecular datings suggest a Miocene origin for the family. Inferred phylogenetic relationships include the following: (i) the basal polytomy consists of 10 branches (mostly consistent with traditional genera), suggesting a rapid early radiation; (ii) sister relationships between several couplets of genera include Ardeotis with Neotis, Afrotis with Eupodotis (excluding E. rueppellii), Otis with Chlamydotis, and Houbaropsis with Sypheotides; (iii) the genus Eupodotis may be polyphyletic; and (iv) the currently delimited genera Ardeotis and Neotis do not form independent monophyletic lineages. Molecular evidence for the Afro-tropical origin of the Otididae is provided.