Thursday, February 1, 2018

[Ornithology • 2018] Nok, gen. nov. • Phylogenetic Affinities of the Enigmatic Bare-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon with Description of A New Genus


Nok hualon (Woxvold, Duckworth & Timmins, 2009)

in Fuchs, Pasquet, Stuart, Woxvold, Duckworth & Bowie, 2018.  
   DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12580 

Abstract
The recently described Bare-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon from Lao PDR has a very distinct morphology and habitat (karsts). Mitochondrial and nuclear data from the type material demonstrated that P. hualon is sister to members of the genus Spizixos. To highlight its unique morphology and phylogenetic distinctiveness, we describe a new monotypic genus for the Bare-faced Bulbul.

The Bare-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon Woxvold, Duckworth & Timmins, 2009, was first collected from the small limestone karst outcrop of Pha Lom, north-east Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR, in late 2008, following a 1995 sighting of strange bald-looking bulbuls about 185 km away, above the Hinboun plain at the northern end of the Khammouan limestone massif. As of 2017, the species remains known only from the karst landforms of Lao PDR between the Pha Lom and above the Hinboun plain. This discovery forms part of a sustained pulse of discoveries of new bird and mammal species in and around the Annamite Mountains of Lao PDR and Vietnam, mostly associated with two distinct habitat types, karst limestone and wet evergreen forest. Several of the newly discovered species are phylogenetically highly distinct. These include a forest bovid (Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis Vu, Pham, Nguyen, Do, Arctander & MacKinnon, 1993; Vu et al. 1993); the first representative of Caudata for Lao PDR (Lao Warty Newt Laotriton laoensis (Stuart & Papenfuss, 2002); Stuart & Papenfuss 2002); and a living member of the Diatomyidae (Kha-nyou Laonastes aenigmamus Jenkins, Kilpatrick, Robinson & Timmins, 2005; Jenkins et al. 2005), a lineage of rodent formerly presumed to have been extinct for the past 11 million years (Dawson et al. 2006). Here we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of the Bare-faced Bulbul (Fig. 1).


Figure 1. Image of Bare-faced Bulbul “Pycnonotus hualon”. captured on the Pha Lom limestone massif, northeast Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR in December 2008.
(Photo: I. Woxvold).

by Risso Romain commons.wikimedia.org 

Nok, gen. nov.

Type species: Pycnonotus hualon Woxvold, Duckworth and Timmins, 2009 by original description. 

Included species: Nok hualon (Woxvold, Duckworth & Timmins, 2009), comb. nov. 

Etymology: Nok means bird in Lao (ນົກ) and is used to highlight the range-restricted distribution of the species. Nouns in the Lao language lack gender. Nok is proposed here as a masculine noun.
 ນົກຂວກຫົວ​ລ້ານ​ / ນົກ​ຂວາກ​ຫົວ​ລ້ານ

    

Jérôme Fuchs, Eric Pasquet, Bryan L. Stuart, Iain A. Woxvold, J. W. Duckworth and Rauri C.K. Bowie. 2018.  Phylogenetic Affinities of the Enigmatic Bare-faced Bulbul Pycnonotus hualon with Description of A New Genus. Ibis. The International Journal of Avian Science.  DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12580

 I.A. Woxvold; J.W. Duckworth and R.J. Timmins. 2009. An Unusual New Bulbul (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae) from the Limestone Karst of Lao PDR. Forktail. 25: 1–12.  http://lad.nafri.org.la/fulltext/2136-0.pdf
 wwf.se/press/pressrum/pressmeddelanden/1307077-nya-sensationella-arter-upptackta-i-sydostasien

  ​ຈາວ​ລໍ່ ຢົງ​ເຢ້. 2014. ​ການ​ກະ​ຈາຍ ແລະ​ພື້ນ​ທີ່​ອາ​ໄສ​ຂອງ​ນົກ​ຂວາກ​ຫົວ​ລ້ານ​ໃນ​ເຂດ​ພູ​ຫີນ​ປູນ ກໍ​ລະ​ນີ​ສຶກ​ສາ: ບ້ານ​ມ່ວງ​ດ່ອຍ, ເມືອງ​ທ່າ​ແຂກ, ແຂວງ​ຄຳ​ມ່ວນ  (Distribution and Habitat of Pycnonotus hualon in Limestone Karst: A Case Study in Mouagdoy Village Thakhed District, Khammouane Province). ມະ​ຫາ​ວິ​ທະ​ຍາ​ໄລ​ແຫ່ງ​ຊາດ.
http://dspace.nuol.edu.la:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/1091