Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)

Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata has two highly disjunct populations in Vietnam and Lao PDR (nominate ocellata) and Malaysia (subspecies nigrescens). When evidence from the small sample of museum specimens is supplemented by novel photographic and acoustic evidence, Malaysian nigrescens proves to b...

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Main Authors: Davison, G. W. H., Boesman, Peter, Collar, N. J., Puan, C. L.
Format: Article
Published: British Ornithologists' Club 2020
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85879/
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author Davison, G. W. H.
Boesman, Peter
Collar, N. J.
Puan, C. L.
author_facet Davison, G. W. H.
Boesman, Peter
Collar, N. J.
Puan, C. L.
author_sort Davison, G. W. H.
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata has two highly disjunct populations in Vietnam and Lao PDR (nominate ocellata) and Malaysia (subspecies nigrescens). When evidence from the small sample of museum specimens is supplemented by novel photographic and acoustic evidence, Malaysian nigrescens proves to be distinct on a suite of characters: yellower bill with blackish nares, buffier supercilium, throat and breast, different-coloured and -structured crest, different-patterned upperparts and tail, a purer, more fluent, longer, lower Short Call (used by advertising males), markedly divergent from the explosive, nasal, double-noted equivalent in nominate ocellata, and a higher number of loud notes in the Long Call including an unexplained bimodal vs. unimodal pattern (hence either average 8.6 or 14.5 vs. 7.1 loud notes per call). In combination these characters indicate a level of differentiation compatible with species rank for nigrescens, and this is strongly reflected in Tobias criteria scoring. The conservation of the two forms requires urgent reconsideration.
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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-15T12:41:28Z
publishDate 2020
publisher British Ornithologists' Club
recordtype eprints
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spelling upm-858792023-10-06T23:46:59Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85879/ Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae) Davison, G. W. H. Boesman, Peter Collar, N. J. Puan, C. L. Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata has two highly disjunct populations in Vietnam and Lao PDR (nominate ocellata) and Malaysia (subspecies nigrescens). When evidence from the small sample of museum specimens is supplemented by novel photographic and acoustic evidence, Malaysian nigrescens proves to be distinct on a suite of characters: yellower bill with blackish nares, buffier supercilium, throat and breast, different-coloured and -structured crest, different-patterned upperparts and tail, a purer, more fluent, longer, lower Short Call (used by advertising males), markedly divergent from the explosive, nasal, double-noted equivalent in nominate ocellata, and a higher number of loud notes in the Long Call including an unexplained bimodal vs. unimodal pattern (hence either average 8.6 or 14.5 vs. 7.1 loud notes per call). In combination these characters indicate a level of differentiation compatible with species rank for nigrescens, and this is strongly reflected in Tobias criteria scoring. The conservation of the two forms requires urgent reconsideration. British Ornithologists' Club 2020 Article PeerReviewed Davison, G. W. H. and Boesman, Peter and Collar, N. J. and Puan, C. L. (2020) Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 140 (2). pp. 182-194. ISSN 2513-9894 https://bioone.org/journals/Bulletin-of-the-British-Ornithologists-Club/volume-140/issue-2/bboc.v140i2.2020.a9/Species-rank-for-Rheinardia-ocellata-nigrescens-Phasianidae/10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a9.full 10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a9
spellingShingle Davison, G. W. H.
Boesman, Peter
Collar, N. J.
Puan, C. L.
Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)
title Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)
title_full Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)
title_fullStr Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)
title_full_unstemmed Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)
title_short Species rank for Rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (Phasianidae)
title_sort species rank for rheinardia ocellata nigrescens (phasianidae)
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85879/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85879/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85879/