S^UDELPH^ 
Wilson Journal 
of Ornithology 
Published by the Wilson Ornithological Society 
VOL. 124, NO. 3 September 2012 PAGES 429-650 
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(3):429—435. 2012 
GAUDY JUVENILE PLUMAGES OF CINEREOUS MOURNER 
(LANIOC ERA HYPOPYRRA) AND BRAZILIAN LANIISOMA 
(LANIISOMA ELEGANS) 
FERNANDO MENDON^A P'HORTA." GUY M. KIRWAN. 2 AND DANTE BUZZETTP 
ABSTRACT.—Wc describe the juvenile plumages of the Cinereous Mourner (Laniocera hypopyrm) and the Brazilian 
Laniisoma (Laniisoma clegans ). Both /.. hypopyrm and L. elegans possess a dramatically conspicuous plumage as juveniles 
in contrast to the generally cryptic plumage pattern exhibited by most juvenile birds. They are predominantly covered by 
cinnamon-orange leathers with black terminal spots, contrasting with the nest and the predominant colors of their 
environment. This Colorful plumage presumably makes them more at risk front predation by visually oriented animals (e.g., 
raptors and primates), during one ot the most vulnerable phases of their life, and strongly suggests these plumages function 
as a true, or lalse (mimicry), signal ol * unprof itubi lily’. Previous knowledge concerning the phylogenetic relationships 
between these two genera, and the juvenile plumage patterns of other species placed in the Tityridae indicate this shared 
character in L. hypopyrm and L elegans represents a synapomorphy within this chide, thereby providing additional 
evidence of their relationship. Received 13 December 2011. Accepted I May 2012. 
The neotropical genera Uttnoceru and Lanii- 
sonut are strictly forest birds (Slot/ et al. 1996). 
The genus Laniocera comprises two species. 
Cinereous Mourner (L. hypopyrra), which is 
widely distributed over the greater part of Amazo¬ 
nia with a geographically separate population in the 
central Atlantic Forest, and the Speckled Mourner 
(L rufescens), which occurs over Middle America 
and northwest South America (Ridgely and Tudor 
1994. Fitzpatrick et ul. 2004). Laniisoma is usually 
Departamento de Gcnetica e Biologia Evolutiva, 
Instituto de Biociencias, Univcrsidadc dc Sao Paulo. Ruu 
do Matao 277. 05508-090, Sao Paulo, SP. Brazil. 
■Research Associate. Field Museum of Natural History. 
1400 South Lakcshore Drive, Chicago. IL 60605. USA. 
Ruu Alvaro Rodrigues 163, sala 4. 04582-000, Sao 
Paulo. SP. Brazil. 
4 Corresponding author; e-mail: fmhorta@usp.br 
considered to be a monospecific genus (e.g.. Snow 
1982, 2004), although some authorities have 
separated its Andean and Atlantic Forest popula¬ 
tions at the specific level. We treat Laniisoma 
elegans as a polytypic species following Kirwan 
and Green (2011, contra the IOC: Gill and Donsker 
2012) that is discontinuous!)' distributed in the 
Brazilian Atlantic Forest as well as even more 
disjunctlv in the foothills of the Andes, from 
southwest Venezuela south to northern Bolivia 
(Ridgely and Tudor 1994. Snow 2004). 
The taxonomic affinities of Laniocera and 
Laniisoma have been the subject of controversy 
and speculation (e.g., Traylor 1979. Prum and 
Lanyon 1989. Sibley and Ahlquist 1990. Fitzpa¬ 
trick et al. 2004. Snow 2004). Prum and Lanyon 
(1989). in a phylogenetic study of what they 
termed the ‘ Schiffomis group', used morpholog¬ 
ical characters and were the first to identify a 
429 
