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Description of a new Cranioleuca spinetail from Bolivia and a “leapfrog pattern” of geographic variation in the genus
Author(s) -
MAIJER SJOERD,
FJELDÅ JON
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.1997.tb04683.x
Subject(s) - disjunct , geography , geographic variation , genus , variation (astronomy) , disjunct distribution , ecology , biology , zoology , phylogenetic tree , population , demography , biochemistry , physics , sociology , astrophysics , gene
A new species of spinetail (Furnariidae: Cranioleuca ) is described from the dry Andean valleys of La Paz, Bolivia. Morphologically it is very similar to, yet distinguishable from, the Line‐cheeked Spinetail Cranioleuca antisiensis from northern Peru and southwestern Ecuador and the Pallid Spinetail Cranioleuca pallida from eastern Brazil. However, related forms which replace each other sharply in the intervening areas are much more different, giving a “leapfrog” pattern of geographic variation. We infer from this pattern that the geographically disjunct but similar‐looking forms are not particularly closely related to each other, and we suggest that all geographically adjacent and morphologically distinctive forms should receive equivalent taxonomic treatment.