A new population of the White Bellbird Procnias albus (Hermann, 1783) from lowland southern Brazilian Amazonia, with comments on genetic variation in bellbirds

We report on a recently discovered population of the White Bellbird (Procnias albus) in southern Amazonia. Contrary to expectations based on geography and morphological analyses, a recently collected specimen from this new population is genetically closer to the northern subspecies, at the same time that it confirms the overall lack of genetic structure previously reported for the species. Our data reinforces the notion that the subspecies of P. albus may not be diagnosable by morphological and molecular characters. The discovery of a new Procnias albus population not far from the largest human settlement in Brazilian Amazonia underscores the need for more research to better understand avian distribution in this under-studied region. KEY-WORDS: Cotingidae, distribution, phylogeography, subspecies, taxonomy. the Muratuba River (02°06'44.5''S; 50°22'15.8''W), c. 260 km (161 miles) to the west of Belém, in the state of Pará, Brazil. The region is covered by upland terra firme forest with canopy heights averaging 30 m, as well as igapó (black water forest), and campinas (white-sand forest). Four leks were found between 19 and 22 June 2015 in the municipality of Bagre (Fig. 1). Three leks were found in a terra firme forest area of approximately 25 km2. These three leks combined contained at least nine adult males, a young male and some females. A fourth lek was located in várzea forest. One adult male from the first lek was collected on 22 June 2015 (MPEG 80706; Table 1). Digital sound files were deposited in Xeno-canto (www.xeno-canto.org: XC261271, XC263193) and photographs were deposited in WikiAves (www.wikiaves. com.br: WA1773951, WA1773933, WA1771028). To compare morphometrics of this collected individual with those of known populations, S.M.D. measured six additional adult male specimens of P. albus deposited in the ornithological collection of Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), as follows: P. a. albus (MPEG 32489 from Paru de Leste River, Aramapucú, state of Pará) and P. a. wallacei (MPEG 37213, 37214, 35042, 30543, all from Serra dos Carajás, Parauapebas, state of Pará). Measurements taken were bill length (exposed culmen), bill width at nostrils, bill height at