Conservation taxonomy of the Greater Antillean Oriole (Icterus dominicensis): diagnosable plumage variation among allopatric populations supports species status

dc.contributor.author Price, Melissa R.
dc.contributor.author Hayes, William K.
dc.date.accessioned 2020-03-18T20:43:02Z
dc.date.available 2020-03-18T20:43:02Z
dc.date.issued 2009
dc.description.abstract Allopatric populations, such as those present on islands, pose special challenges to identifying taxonomic boundaries which can be practically addressed using diagnostic criteria. To assess the taxonomic and, hence, conservation status of the four island populations of the Greater Antillean Oriole (Icterus dominicensis), we examined 156 male specimens of I. dominicensis for six discrete and three continuous plumage characters. The four island populations proved to be 100% diagnosable. Icterus d. northropi differed from all other taxa by having the greatest extent of yellow on the venter (non-overlapping with other taxa). Icterus d. portoricensis was distinguished from all other taxa by the presence of a black upper rump (yellow in other taxa) and the least extent of yellow on the rump (non-overlapping with other taxa). Icterus d. melanopsis and I. d. dominicensis were fully discriminated from I. d. northropi and I. d. portoricensis by the aforementioned characters and from each other by upper-tail covert color (black and ≥ 50% yellow, respectively). Our findings support recent studies suggesting that the four island groups represent distinct allospecies consistent with interpretations of both the phylogenetic and evolutionary species concepts. With elevation to full species, conservation priorities need to be revisited, particularly for the critically endangered Bahamas taxon (I. d. northropi). en_US
dc.format.extent 6 pages en_US
dc.identifier.citation Price, M. R. and W. K. Hayes (2009) Conservation taxonomy of the Greater Antillean Oriole (Icterus dominicensis): diagnosable plumage variation among allopatric populations supports species status. Caribbean Ornithology 22:19–25. en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/66567
dc.language.iso en-US en_US
dc.publisher Caribbean Ornithology en_US
dc.subject conservation taxonomy en_US
dc.subject Greater Antillean Oriole en_US
dc.subject Icterus dominicensis en_US
dc.subject plumage variation en_US
dc.subject species limits en_US
dc.subject West Indies en_US
dc.title Conservation taxonomy of the Greater Antillean Oriole (Icterus dominicensis): diagnosable plumage variation among allopatric populations supports species status en_US
dc.type Papers en_US
dc.type.dcmi Text en_US
prism.endingpage 25 en_US
prism.publicationname Caribbean Ornithology en_US
prism.startingpage 19 en_US
prism.volume 22 en_US
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