MOLT AND PLUMAGE TERMINOLOGY OF HOWELL ET AL. (2003) STILL MAY NOT REFLECT HOMOLOGIES

Abstract

Abstract Forty-five years ago Humphrey and Parkes (1959) introduced their system of nomenclature for molts and plumages (the H-P system). They claimed that their biologically neutral terminology, independent of the bird's life cycle events, could accurately reflect homologies of molts and plumages across a wide range of avian taxa. Soon, however, several investigators reported trouble adapting the terminology to unusual sequences of molts and plumages, and others expressed doubts that it could accurately reflect true phylogenetic homologies. Howell et al. (2003) reviewed these problems and proposed a modification of the original H-P system that identifies the juvenal plumage as the first basic plumage, and any postjuvenal plumages that are not repeated in later plumage cycles as formative plumages. By doing this, they solved the problem of adapting the original H-P system to plumages of the first year of life in many species. However, they have not overcome the arguments of Stresemann (1963) and Amadon (1...