Sira curassow

Sira curassow
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Cracidae
Genus: Pauxi
Species: P. koepckeae
Binomial name
Pauxi koepckeae
Weske & Terborgh, 1971
Synonyms

Pauxi unicornis koepckeae

The Sira curassow (Pauxi koepckeae) is a species of bird in the Cracidae family. It is found in the Cerros del Sira in central Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

It is threatened by habitat loss.

Taxonomy and systematics

In 1969 another two birds, a male and female were discovered which resembled horned curassow. However they were found in Peru a long way from the previous P. unicornis discoveries in Bolivia. These Peruvian specimens were described by John Weske and John Terborgh in 1971 as a new subspecies of P. unicornis which they named in honour of Maria Koepcke.[1]

Many different suggestions have been regarding species status since their discovery. Some suggestions relate to the grouping of species and subspecies within the genus Pauxi. In 1943 Wetmore and Phelps described a new subspecies of the closely related P. pauxi called P. p. gilliardi. When Wetmore and Phelps looked at the three Pauxi forms known at the time, they concluded that P. p. gilliardi was an intermediate form between P. pauxi and P. unicornis. As a result of this they grouped all three forms into a single species with unicornis becoming a subspecies of pauxi.[2][3] This position was subsequently rejected by Charles Vaurie who argued that P. pauxi and P. unicornis were not conspecific. When Weske and Terborgh discovered the subspecies koepckeae they concluded pauxi and unicornis should be considered separate species, which has been followed by all subsequent authors.[1][3]

"Through an unfortunate misunderstanding, the female was plucked and prepared for the stewpot by our Peruvian assistants, who did not realize that we wished to preserve both birds as skins."[1]
— The unfortunate turn of events after two birds of P. unicornis koepckeae were discovered for the first time.

Other taxonomic suggestions discuss whether the genus Pauxi should stand alone or be grouped with other genera. In 1965 François Vuilleumier suggested the two Pauxi species should be moved into a single genus alongside all the other species in the closely related genera Mitu, Crax and Nothocrax. Just two years later Charles Vaurie opposed this 'lumping' of species and argued that Pauxi, Mitu, Crax and Nothocrax should each be their own genera.[2] Not content with either of these two options Delacour and Amadon suggested that Pauxi and Mitu should indeed be grouped with Crax, but that Nothocrax was distinct enough to be its on genus. Many subsequent authors followed Vaurie, Delacour and Amadon in having Nothocrax as a sister clade to Pauxi, Mitu and Crax, while most have followed Vaurie in having the three other clades as three distinct genera.[1][3][4]

Recent mitochondrial analysis suggests that P. unicornis is a sister species to Mitu tuberosum, while the other Pauxi species, P. pauxi, is sister to the combined Mitu and P. unicornis clade. This means the genus Pauxi is not monophyletic but paraphyletic.[4] The paraphyly of Pauxi could be due to incomplete lineage sorting, where a gene tree is inconsistent with its species tree, however it is less important for deep phyolenetic splits. Because of this, Pereira et al conclude incomplete lineage sorting is unlikely to account for the paraphylic Pauxi genera because, according to their own analysis, Mitu and Pauxi diverged approximately 6.5 mya.[4]

P. koepckeae is only known from a very small geographic area and a small number of specimens. Recent work suggests that P. koepckeae be considered distinct based on vocal, behavioral, ecological, and morphological differences.[5]

Description

The Sira curassow is very similar morphologically to the horned curassow, however the casque is less erect and more rounded (ellipsoidal instead of elongated cone). Additionally the outer tail feathers have narrower white tips and the four central tail feather completely lack white colouring.[1]

Conservation

The Sira curassow is listed as critically endangered as it is threatened by habitat destruction and is hunted for meat. The birds population is believed to be below 250 individuals with a decreasing trend.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Weske, J.S. & Terborgh, J.W. (1971). "A New Subspecies of Curassow of the Genus Pauxi from Peru" (PDF). The Auk. 88 (2): 233–238. doi:10.2307/4083876.
  2. 1 2 Vaurie, C. (1967). "Systematic notes on the bird family Cracidae, 10. The genera Mitu and Pauxi and the generic relationships of the Cracini". American Museum novitates. 2307: 1–20. hdl:2246/3507.
  3. 1 2 3 Cox, G., Read, J.M., Clarke, R.O.S. & Easty, V.S. (1997). "Studies of Horned Curassow Pauxi unicornis in Bolivia". Bird Conservation International. 7: 199–211. doi:10.1017/S0959270900001532.
  4. 1 2 3 Pereira, S.L. & Baker, A.J. (2004). "Vicariant speciation of curassows (Aves, Cracidae): a hypothesis based on mitochondrial DNA phylogeny". Auk. 121 (3): 682–694. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0682:VSOCAC]2.0.CO;2.
  5. ↑ Gastañaga-C., M., MacLeod, R.; Brooks, D.M. & Hennessey, B. (2011). "Distinctive morphology, ecology, and first vocal descriptions of Sira Curassow (Pauxi [unicornis] koepckeae): evidence for species rank" (PDF). Ornitol. Neotrop. 22: 267–279.

Further reading

Wikispecies has information related to: Pauxi unicornis
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