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Morphological And Vocal Divergence In Disjunct Populations Of Three Endemic Atlantic Forest Rhynchocyclidae Species
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1  Department of Biodiversity and Biostatistics, Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University, Botucatu 18618-689, Brazil
Academic Editor: Mathias Harzhauser

Published: 01 December 2025 by MDPI in The 1st International Online Conference on Taxonomy session Animal Taxonomy
Abstract:

Recent taxonomic studies of neotropical suboscine passerines have demonstrated the importance of integrative approaches, particularly for cryptic species complexes where traditional morphological characteristics show limited diagnostic value. Our investigation focused on three challenging Hemitriccus species (H. mirandae, H. furcatus, and H. nidipendulus) with disjunct distributions across Brazil. We combined bioacoustic analysis using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with comprehensive morphological examination of 35 voucher specimens from the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. Detailed morphometric analysis included six measurements: culmen length, width and height, tarsus, wing, and tail length. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to assess differences among populations, while Student's t-tests were applied to evaluate pairwise population differences. Plumage coloration was assessed using standardized color catalogs. Hemitriccus mirandae specimens exhibited pale yellow underparts (2.5Y 8/4), which became lighter posteriorly, contrasting with their uniform greenish-olive dorsum (49-Greenish Olive). H. furcatus showed more complex plumage with a gray chest (N 6/0) grading to a light-gray abdomen (10Y 8/6), and upperparts featuring a brownish head (23 Raw Umber) transitioning to a greenish-olive body (49 Greenish Olive). H. nidipendulus displayed distinctive gray underparts (N 6/0) with prominent yellowish streaking (157 Sulfur Yellow) and consistent greenish-olive (49 Greenish Olive) upperparts. Statistical analysis revealed significant morphological differentiation between H. nidipendulus subspecies (F1,1 = 5.9, p = 0.005), primarily driven by wing and tail dimensions (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively). However, the lack of corresponding plumage differences and the moderate (70-80%) classification accuracy of vocal signatures from CNN analysis suggest these may represent intraspecific variations rather than species-level divergence. These findings support the synonymization of H. n. paulistus with H. n. nidipendulus, while highlighting the need for additional sampling to clarify the taxonomic status of H. mirandae and H. furcatus populations.

Keywords: Bioacoustics; Hemitriccus; Taxonomy
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