Taxonomic revision of the Long-tailed RosefinchCarpodacus sibiricuscomplex

• The Long-tailed RosefinchCarpodacus sibiricusbreeds in two widely disjunct areas in East Asia. Five subspecies are usually recognized. The plumage differences between different subspecies groups withinC. sibiricusare notable, suggesting it may actually comprise more than one species. However, proper taxonomic assessment has not been carried out, probably in part due to the scarcity and lack of museum specimens of some of these subspecies. In the current study, we re-evaluated the taxonomy of theC. sibiricuscomplex using molecular, acoustic and morphological data. Using mitochondrial DNA, the samples formed two clades, a northern clade (C. s. sibiricus,C. s. ussuriensisandC. s. sanguinolentus) and a southern clade (C. s. henriciandC. s. lepidus). We also revealed thatC. s. ussuriensisandC. s. sanguinolentusare mostly indistinguishable based on mitochondrial markers. This north/south split pattern is congruent with the pattern of plumage differences among north and south taxa. However, no diagnosable differences were found in their songs. We propose synonymizingC. s. ussuriensiswithC. s. sanguinolentus. At the species level, we suggest splitting the complex into two species, with Siberian Long-tailed RosefinchC. sibiricuscomprisingC. s. sibiricusandC. s. sanguinolentus, and Chinese Long-tailed RosefinchC. lepiduscomprisingC. l. henriciandC. l. lepidus.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Zoologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Zoology (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biologisk systematik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biological Systematics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Integrative taxonomy

Mitochondrial DNA

Allopatric distribution

Morphology

Acoustic analysis

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)