Morphological evidence for the taxonomic status of the Bridge’s Guan, Penelope bridgesi, with comments on the validity of P. obscura bronzina (Aves: Cracidae)

By

Evangelista Vargas, Oscar Diego
Silveira, Luis Fabio

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018-3-29

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

35

Pages

1--10

Subjects

Distribution , Morphology , Penelope , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zoologia.35.e12993

 

Abstract

PenelopeobscuraTemminck, 1815 is a forest guan found in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia. Three subspecies are currently recognized:Penelopeo.obscuraTemminck, 1815,P.o.bridgesiGray, 1860, andP.o.bronzinaHellmayr, 1914. The limits betweenPenelopetaxa are poorly understood since few studies have evaluated their differences in plumage, distribution and taxonomy. Based on 104 specimens deposited in ornithological collections we studied the variations in the plumage ofP.obscura, including all characters that have been used to describe the included subspecies. Our results show that the plumage of these birds is extremely variable in southern and southeastern Brazil. Without any morphological and morphometric characters to supportP.o.bronzinaas a valid taxon, we synonymized it withP.obscura. Conversely,P.o.bridgesi, which occurs in the Yungas and the Chaco, is a distinct taxon and should be treated as a separate species fromP.obscura.