The taxonomic status of Mirafra cantillans and M. javanica has undergone revision severaltimes: sometimes considered a single species, but most often considered two separate species.Recent mitochondrial (Alström et al. 2013) and multilocus (Alström et al. 2023) studies havecontributed to this dynamic, with the mitochondrial data suggesting that there is only onespecies, while the genomic data is more indicative of two species. Despite this, vocalizations,a known tool for identifying avian species and an important source of data in taxonomicstudies, have not yet been analyzed for this species complex. This study analyzed recordingsof vocalizations of M. cantillans and M. javanica (here treated as two species) to provide newinsight into their taxonomy. Based on over 150 recordings from across the range (westernAfrica to eastern Australia), I used a combination of numerical measurements, auditory, andvisual data to evaluate their taxonomy. Overlap and consistencies between the patterns of thesongs was found throughout the entire range of the complex, with the most vocally distinctgeographical population identified being from India, though there was significant overlapbetween all populations. Mimicry, continuous songs, and block patterning were found to bepresent throughout the majority of the populations from different geographical regions. Threegeographically separate song types were identified (Africa to Arabia, India, and SoutheastAsia to Australia).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-517438 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | M'Bark, Alexia |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för biologisk grundutbildning |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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