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Polyphyly of the genus Apalis and a new generic name for the species pulchra and ruwenzorii
Author(s) -
NGUEMBOCK BILLY,
FJELDSÅ JON,
COULOUX ARNAUD,
CRUAUD CORINNE,
PASQUET ERIC
Publication year - 2008
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.2008.00852.x
Subject(s) - polyphyly , biology , monophyly , clade , subclade , genus , zoology , paraphyly , type genus , type species , evolutionary biology , phylogenetic tree , genetics , gene
The genus Apalis is a member of the African forest warblers clade of the Cisticolidae. In view of its morphological diversity, it was suggested that this genus needs a taxonomic revaluation. For this, we sequenced a nuclear intron (myoglobin intron 2) and two mitochondrial protein‐coding genes ( ND2 and ND3 ). The 2016 bp of sequence data obtained were aligned and subjected to parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. All three genes strongly reject the monophyly of Apalis but support the placing of all apalises within a broader clade of forest cisticolids which also includes Urolais . Within this forest clade, a subclade is defined which includes the genera Urolais , Schistolais and a well‐supported clade comprising three afromontane species, the Black‐collared Apalis Apalis pulchra , the Ruwenzori Apalis Apalis ruwenzorii and the African Tailorbird Artisornis. This subclade is sister to other members of Apalis , including the type species of the genus the Bar‐throated Apalis Apalis thoracica. A new generic name, Oreolais , is suggested for the Black‐collared and Ruwenzori Apalises.