Scientists have found giant among Canaries
A genetic study has resolved a long-standing dispute about the classification of monochrome finches. Bird finally took to the family of finches and found that they are the largest birds in the world.
The paper was published in the journal Ibis, and briefly about it tells NewScientist.
World’s largest discovered on the canary island of giants and dwarfs https://t.co/tCCRzXXSJm pic.twitter.com/8De7Dc5Z13
— New Scientist (@newscientist) April 5, 2017
In the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic ocean on the island of Sao Tome in the rainforest live unicolor reels (Neospiza concolor). They live only in this region and is considered one of the rarest birds in the world. Their distinctive appearance was the reason for making monochrome finches in a separate genus. However, the question of classification has remained open for over a hundred years.
It all began in 1888, when the Portuguese naturalist Francisco Newton first caught the same reel in the South-Eastern forests of Sao Tome, and two years later he was lucky to encounter two more in the southwestern part of the island. Due to the shape of the head and smacks populace massive beak of the bird then took to the family tkacikova (Ploceidae) in the genus Amblyospiza that includes at the moment only a weavers (Amblyospiza albifrons).
After a few years the birds looked closer and closer classification changed — these belong to the family of finches (Fringillidae), which is one of the biggest and includes, for example, Canaries. As monochrome finches could not be placed in any existing genera, I had to allocate them separate — Neospiza. With the decision to change the family agreed not all. Some scientists still insisted on belonging to tkacikova, with the result that the question remained open until the present day, until aid researchers came genetic methods.
Analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial sequences with high confidence showed not only belonging to the finches, but what we are dealing with the largest Canary in the world.
On the background of an ordinary representative of his group, whose size is a bit not up to the Sparrow, weighing half as much, challenged their leader unicolor reels are the real giants.
Surprisingly, modern science occur not only changes and updates classification, and continuing discovery of new species. For example, in Angola the recently opened giant dwarf bushbaby.
Yuri Solus