Birds of paradise, biogeography and ecology in New Guinea: a review
Birds of paradise, biogeography and ecology in New Guinea: a review
Birds of paradise, biogeography and ecology in New Guinea: a review
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904 M. Heads<br />
Figure 25 The two related species Astrapia nigra <strong>and</strong> A. rothschildi.<br />
Figure 26 The black, blue-eyed Parotia species, <strong>and</strong> P. carolae.<br />
Figure 27 Paradisaea subgen. Paradisaea. The three species with<br />
`decomposed' ¯ank plumes ± P. rubra, P. guilielmi <strong>and</strong> P. decora.<br />
The ®rst two are a related pair with green forecrown <strong>and</strong> reddishbrown<br />
iris.<br />
share a longer tail <strong>and</strong> behavioural similarities (E. Scholes,<br />
pers. comm., September 2000).<br />
Likewise, <strong>in</strong> their cladogram Frith & Beehler (1998) have<br />
Paradisaea rubra Daud<strong>in</strong>, <strong>of</strong> Waigeo <strong>and</strong> Batanta Isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
(ophiolite terrane) just <strong>of</strong>f the Vogelkop, as the sister species<br />
<strong>of</strong> P. guilielmi Cabanis, <strong>of</strong> the Huon Pen<strong>in</strong>sula mounta<strong>in</strong>s<br />
(Fig. 27). Neither Frith & Beehler (1998) nor Gilliard (1969)<br />
give any characters l<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g these two but they do seem<br />
related: <strong>in</strong> the males <strong>of</strong> both, but <strong>in</strong> no other species, the oilgreen<br />
throat colouration extends above the eye to cover the<br />
front <strong>of</strong> the crown, <strong>and</strong> the eye is reddish-brown, not yellow.<br />
In addition the tail wires (central rectrices) are longer<br />
relative to body size <strong>in</strong> these two species. F<strong>in</strong>ally, P. rubra<br />
<strong>and</strong> P. guilielmi have the outermost primaries with no<br />
emarg<strong>in</strong>ation on the <strong>in</strong>ner vane, unlike the other species.<br />
Whatever rank this group<strong>in</strong>g warrants, the biogeographical<br />
af®nity is <strong>of</strong> great <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>and</strong> could be <strong>in</strong>vestigated further.<br />
Frith & Beehler's (1998) only comment is that the two<br />
species are each an `aberrant sister form' <strong>of</strong> the ma<strong>in</strong><br />
Paradisaea clade. This <strong>in</strong>terpretation ®ts with the theory<br />
postulat<strong>in</strong>g colonization <strong>of</strong> the <strong>of</strong>fshore isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> coastal<br />
ranges from the central ranges, but it is not consistent with<br />
the cladogram, <strong>in</strong> which P. rubra <strong>and</strong> P. guilielmi together<br />
form the sister group to the rest <strong>of</strong> Paradisaea subgen.<br />
Paradisaea. The <strong>in</strong>vasion theory would predict the two<br />
outly<strong>in</strong>g species to be separately related to the central group<br />
<strong>of</strong> species, as implied <strong>in</strong> Frith & Beehler's comments. The<br />
mutual af®nity <strong>of</strong> the two species is <strong>in</strong>explicable under the<br />
dispersal theory, but is easily compatible with an accreted<br />
terrane model <strong>of</strong> <strong>New</strong> Gu<strong>in</strong>ea <strong>biogeography</strong> (Heads, 1999),<br />
or <strong>in</strong>deed any model that accepts geological change, such as<br />
strike-slip movement, as relevant to biological distribution.<br />
In a similar example, Melipotes (Meliphagidae) comprises<br />
three species: the black-breasted M. gymnops Sclater (Arfak,<br />
Tamrau <strong>and</strong> W<strong>and</strong>ammen Mounta<strong>in</strong>s) <strong>and</strong> M. ater Roths<br />
child & Hartert (Huon Pen<strong>in</strong>sula mounta<strong>in</strong>s), separated by<br />
M. fumigatus Meyer with a slaty lower breast (R<strong>and</strong> &<br />
Gilliard, 1967). Melipotes' putative sister group is another<br />
frugivore, Macgregoria De Vis (Cracraft & Fe<strong>in</strong>ste<strong>in</strong>, 2000)<br />
(formerly considered a bird <strong>of</strong> <strong>paradise</strong>), which itself shows a<br />
disjunction between the Star Mounta<strong>in</strong>s <strong>and</strong> the Papuan<br />
Pen<strong>in</strong>sula.<br />
Other Vogelkop disjunctions <strong>in</strong>volve taxa known only<br />
from there <strong>and</strong> western PNG, especially the Karius Range ±<br />
Muller Range area. Examples <strong>in</strong> the birds <strong>of</strong> <strong>paradise</strong> are the<br />
black, blue-eyed Parotia species (with the gap ®lled by<br />
P. carolae Meyer) (Fig. 26), <strong>and</strong> the long-tailed Astrapia<br />
species (with the gap ®lled by A. splendidissima Rothschild)<br />
(Fig. 28). Drepanornis albertisi cerv<strong>in</strong>icauda Sclater has a<br />
very similar disjunction: Weyl<strong>and</strong> Mounta<strong>in</strong>s ± Doma Peaks.<br />
Frith & Beehler (1998) downplay these Vogelkop disjunctions<br />
± <strong>in</strong> the Astrapia species the `curious' plumage<br />
similarities may represent symplesiomorphies (no evidence<br />
is given), the disjunction <strong>in</strong> Paradisaea is hardly mentioned,<br />
<strong>in</strong> the black parotias the disjunct forms are `certa<strong>in</strong>ly' sister<br />
taxa but the mode <strong>of</strong> their differentiation is `unclear', <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong> Drepanornis the distribution is `peculiar <strong>in</strong> the extreme'<br />
<strong>and</strong> may be a taxonomic `artefact'. Nevertheless, the<br />
Vogelkop ± Huon Pen<strong>in</strong>sula disjunction <strong>and</strong> related patterns<br />
occur <strong>in</strong> many other animals <strong>and</strong> plants <strong>and</strong> are<br />
probably important clues to the history <strong>of</strong> northern <strong>New</strong><br />
Gu<strong>in</strong>ea <strong>and</strong> their biota.<br />
The Vogelkop ± Huon disjunction is seen <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>vertebrates<br />
such as the spiders Argiope aemula (Walckenaer) <strong>and</strong><br />
A. appensa (Walckenaer) (Levi, 1983) <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> plants such<br />
as the follow<strong>in</strong>g:<br />
Hartleya Sleum. (Vogelkop, disjunct south <strong>of</strong> Lae at<br />
Mounts Shungol <strong>and</strong> Ka<strong>in</strong>di) (Sleumer, 1971),<br />
Ó Blackwell Science Ltd 2001, Journal <strong>of</strong> Biogeography, 28, 893±925