Abstract
Recent discovery of the Large-billed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orinus) in museums and in the wild significantly expanded our knowledge of its morphological traits and genetic variability, and revealed new data on geographical distribution of the breeding grounds, migration routes and wintering locations of this species. It is now certain that A. orinus is breeding in Central Asia; however, the precise area of distribution remains unclear. The difficulty in the further study of this species lies in the small number of known specimens, with only 13 currently available in museums, and in the relative uncertainty of the breeding area and habitat of this species. Following morphological and genetic analyses from Svensson, et al, we describe 14 new A. orinus specimens from collections of Zoological Museums of the former USSR from the territory of Central Asian states. All of these specimens were erroneously labeled as Blyth's Reed Warbler (A. dumetorum), which is thought to be a breeding species in these areas. The 14 new A. orinus specimens were collected during breeding season while most of the 85 A. dumetorum specimens from the same area were collected during the migration period. Our data indicate that the Central Asian territory previously attributed as breeding grounds of A. dumetorum is likely to constitute the breeding territory of A. orinus. This rare case of a re-description of the breeding territory of a lost species emphasizes the importance of maintenance of museum collections around the world. If the present data on the breeding grounds of A. orinus are confirmed with field observations and collections, the literature on the biology of A. dumetorum from the southern part of its range may have to be reconsidered.
Highlights
Since the publication of reviews on the distribution of birds in the former USSR [1,2] there have been no new descriptions of species with the main breeding ranges on this territory [3]
Starting in the summer 2009 we have undertaken a large survey of specimens labeled as A. dumetorum in the ornithological collections of several museums located on the territories of the former USSR
To verify our identification we isolated genomic DNA from skin samples of the specimens identified by morphology as A. orinus as well as from several individuals identified as A. dumetorum as a LARGE-BILLED REED WARBLER
Summary
Since the publication of reviews on the distribution of birds in the former USSR [1,2] there have been no new descriptions of species with the main breeding ranges on this territory [3]. A possible exception is A. orinus, the Large-billed Reed Warbler, which has been recently found to be breeding in the southern area of Tajikistan [4], the more precise breeding area of this species remains undetermined This enigmatic bird has captured the attention of several researchers after two live birds were caught during non-breeding season in Thailand [5,6], the first such records of this species for well over a century, and which collectively proved the existence and status of A. orinus as a separate and non-extinct species. The 11 specimens were discovered after careful analysis of A. dumetorum museum collections, suggesting that A. orinus can be overlooked as this species These two factors, the sites of the collected A. orinus specimens in the breeding season on the south border of the territory of the former USSR and the distribution of A. dumetorum in the Central Asian countries, led us to examine more closely the available collections of A. dumetorum from the southern extension of its breeding range
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