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An examination of species limits in the Aulacorhynchus "prasinus" toucanet complex (Aves: Ramphastidae).

ABSTRACT: The number of species recognized in Aulacorhynchus toucanets has varied tremendously over the past century. Revisors seem to disagree on whether head and bill coloration are useful indicators of species limits, especially in the A. "prasinus" complex. Using morphometrics, I tested the hypothesis that the major color-based subspecific groups of A. "prasinus" sensu lato are simply "cookie-cutter" (i.e., morphologically nearly identical) toucanets with different head and bill colorations. Univariate and multivariate analyses show that they are not simply morphological replicates of different colors: a complex array of morphometric similarities and dissimilarities occur between the major subspecific groups, and these variations differ between the sexes. Latitude and longitude had a small but significant association with female (but not male) PC1 and PC2. Hybridization and intergradation were also considered using plumage and bill characters as a surrogate to infer gene flow. Hybridization as indicated by phenotype appears to be substantial between A. "p." cyanolaemus and A. "p." atrogularis and nonexistent between other major groups, although from genetic evidence it is likely rare between A. "p." albivitta and A. "p." cyanolaemus. The congruence and complexities of the morphological and color changes occurring among these groups suggest that ecological adaptation (through natural selection) and social selection have co-occurred among these groups and that species limits are involved. Further, hybridization is not evident at key places, despite in many cases (hypothetical) opportunity for gene flow. Consequently, I recommend that this complex be recognized as comprising five biological species: A. wagleri, prasinus, caeruleogularis, albivitta, and atrogularis. Four of these also have valid subspecies within them, and additional work may eventually support elevation of some of these subspecies to full species. Species limits in South America especially need more study.

SUBMITTER: Winker K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5012271 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An examination of species limits in the Aulacorhynchus "prasinus" toucanet complex (Aves: Ramphastidae).

Winker Kevin K

PeerJ 20160830

The number of species recognized in Aulacorhynchus toucanets has varied tremendously over the past century. Revisors seem to disagree on whether head and bill coloration are useful indicators of species limits, especially in the A. "prasinus" complex. Using morphometrics, I tested the hypothesis that the major color-based subspecific groups of A. "prasinus" sensu lato are simply "cookie-cutter" (i.e., morphologically nearly identical) toucanets with different head and bill colorations. Univariat ...[more]

PMID: 27635345

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Project description:Since the last revision in 2015, the taxonomy of section Flavipedes evolved rapidly along with the availability of new species delimitation techniques. This study aims to re-evaluate the species boundaries of section Flavipedes members using modern delimitation methods applied to an extended set of strains (n = 90) collected from various environments. The analysis used DNA sequences of three house-keeping genes (benA, CaM, RPB2) and consisted of two steps: application of several single-locus (GMYC, bGMYC, PTP, bPTP) and multi-locus (STACEY) species delimitation methods to sort the isolates into putative species, which were subsequently validated using DELINEATE software that was applied for the first time in fungal taxonomy. As a result, four new species are introduced, i.e. A. alboluteus, A. alboviridis, A. inusitatus and A. lanuginosus, and A. capensis is synonymized with A. iizukae. Phenotypic analyses were performed for the new species and their relatives, and the results showed that the growth parameters at different temperatures and colonies characteristics were useful for differentiation of these taxa. The revised section harbors 18 species, most of them are known from soil. However, the most common species from the section are ecologically diverse, occurring in the indoor environment (six species), clinical samples (five species), food and feed (four species), droppings (four species) and other less common substrates/environments. Due to the occurrence of section Flavipedes species in the clinical material/hospital environment, we also evaluated the susceptibility of 67 strains to six antifungals (amphotericin B, itraconazole, posaconazole, voriconazole, isavuconazole, terbinafine) using the reference EUCAST method. These results showed some potentially clinically relevant differences in susceptibility between species. For example, MICs higher than those observed for A. fumigatus wild-type were found for both triazoles and amphotericin B for A. ardalensis, A. iizukae, and A. spelaeus whereas A. lanuginosus, A. luppiae, A. movilensis, A. neoflavipes, A. olivimuriae and A. suttoniae were comparable to or more susceptible as A. fumigatus. Finally, terbinafine was in vitro active against all species except A. alboviridis.

Dataset Information

An examination of species limits in the Aulacorhynchus "prasinus" toucanet complex (Aves: Ramphastidae).

Publications

An examination of species limits in the Aulacorhynchus "prasinus" toucanet complex (Aves: Ramphastidae).

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