Análise filogenética do gênero Formicivora Swainson, 1825 (Aves: Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) baseada em caracteres morfológicos e vocais

Abstract

A cladistic analysis of extemal morphology, syringeal morphology, vocalizations and natural history characters was conducted to test the monophyly of Fomlicivora, to define its limits and to develop a phy]ogenetic hypothesis for the genus. Primary homologies were hypothesized and coded as 56 characters for 26 terminal taxons that included 251hamnophilid and one formicariid species. Ten parsimony analyses of this data set were perfonned, each with different inclusion or exclusion, weighting and ordering of characters. Each of these analyses comprised 100 replicates with the random addition sequence option in effect using PAUP tree-bisection-andreconnection branch-swapping heuristic algorithm. The monophyly of Formicivora as currently defined is not supported, but in every analysis seven species are grouped in a clade that includes six currently recognized species of Formicivora. To correspond to this monophyletic assemblage, Formicívora must be redefined to include Stymphalornis acutirostris and to exclude F. iheringi. Formicivora erythronotos is the sister group to the other six species of the genus. Stymphalonlis acutirostris, F. nifa and F. grisea fonn a clade that is the sister group to a clade fonned by F. melanogaster, F. serrana and F. littoralis. The sister group to Fomricivora could not be unambiguously hypothesized. While the phylogenetic relationships of F. iheringi are not resolved within Thamnophilidae, this species should be placed in a incertae sedis monotypic genus, for which the name Neorhopias Hellma:yT, 1920 is available. The monophyly of myrmotherula, which has been questioned by previous studies based on molecular analyses, has not been supported by this study either. The utility of vocal characters in reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships of Suboscine Passerines is discussed and reaffirmed.