A distinctive new subspecies of Scytalopusgriseicollis (Aves, Passeriformes, Rhinocryptidae) from the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia and Venezuela.

Jorge Avendaño,Thomas M. Donegan

doi:10.3897/zookeys.506.9553

Abstract

We describe a new subspecies of Pale-bellied Tapaculo Scytalopus griseicollis from the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia and Venezuela. This form differs diagnosably in plumage from described subspecies Scytalopus griseicollis griseicollis and Scytalopus griseicollis gilesi and from the latter in tail length. It is also differentiated non-diagnosably in voice from both these populations. Ecological niche modelling analysis suggests that the new subspecies is restricted to the Andean montane forest and páramo north of both the arid Chicamocha valley and the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy.

Highlights

Scytalopus Tapaculos are a genus of small and dull suboscine passerines which inhabit the undergrowth of humid forests and tree-line habitats of Neotropical mountains from Costa Rica to Argentina (Krabbe and Schulenberg 2003)
Recent studies have resulted in new taxon descriptions and reclassifications for at least 30 species. Six of these new Scytalopus taxa have been described with a distribution partially or exclusively in Colombia since the late 1990s (Krabbe and Schulenberg 1997, Cuervo et al 2005, Krabbe et al 2005, Donegan and Avendaño 2008, Donegan et al 2013, Avendaño et al 2015) and some diagnosable populations in the Colombian Andes remain undescribed (e.g. Donegan and Avendaño 2008, López-O et al 2013, McMullan and Donegan 2014)
We recently reviewed the taxonomy of the group and related taxa (Donegan and Avendaño 2008), clarified the status and affinities of the type specimens of various names from the region, addressed the previously controversial status of S. infasciatus as a synonym of nominate S. griseicollis and described S. griseicollis gilesi from the Serranía de los Yariguíes of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

Summary

Introduction

Scytalopus Tapaculos are a genus of small and dull suboscine passerines which inhabit the undergrowth of humid forests and tree-line habitats of Neotropical mountains from Costa Rica to Argentina (Krabbe and Schulenberg 2003). Recent studies have resulted in new taxon descriptions and reclassifications for at least 30 species (principally in Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990, Krabbe and Schulenberg 2003 and in many other publications, see Remsen et al 2015) Six of these new Scytalopus taxa have been described with a distribution partially or exclusively in Colombia since the late 1990s (Krabbe and Schulenberg 1997, Cuervo et al 2005, Krabbe et al 2005, Donegan and Avendaño 2008, Donegan et al 2013, Avendaño et al 2015) and some diagnosable populations in the Colombian Andes remain undescribed Six of these new Scytalopus taxa have been described with a distribution partially or exclusively in Colombia since the late 1990s (Krabbe and Schulenberg 1997, Cuervo et al 2005, Krabbe et al 2005, Donegan and Avendaño 2008, Donegan et al 2013, Avendaño et al 2015) and some diagnosable populations in the Colombian Andes remain undescribed (e.g. Donegan and Avendaño 2008, López-O et al 2013, McMullan and Donegan 2014)

Methods

Results

Conclusion