Belongs within: Passerides.
Contains: Stenostiridae, Remizidae, Paridae, Alaudidae, Macrosphenidae, Cisticolidae, Locustellidae, Bernieridae, Acrocephalidae, Hirundinidae, Pycnonotidae, Sylviidae, Timaliidae, Pellorneidae, Leiothrichidae, Yuhina, Phylloscopus, Aegithalidae, Cettiidae.
The Sylviida are a clade of songbirds identified by molecular analysis that includes the Old World warblers and related taxa such as tits and bulbuls. Most are small insectivorous birds. Many have been classified in the past into the family Sylviidae, but this taxon its broader sense has been shown to be polyphyletic. The clade is most diverse in Eurasia and Africa; relatively few lineages have reached the Americas. Basal representatives include Hyliota, an African genus of warbler-like birds with blue-black upperparts and pale underparts (Arlott & Perlo 2021).
Apalopteron familiare hahasima
Published 15 December 2009
Apalopteron familiare, the Bonin honeyeater, is a small bird of the Japanese Ogasawara (or Bonin) island group in the north-west Pacific. Phylogenetically speaking, it’s been shuffled around a bit over the years—originally described as a species of bulbul, it seems to have been regarded by many authors as some sort of timaliid (babbler) until Deignan identified it in 1958 as belonging to the Meliphagidae (honeyeaters), mainly on the basis of its branched, brushed tongue. There it stayed until molecular analysis re-identified it as a member of the white-eyes (Driskell & Christidis 2004). There are two funny things about this: (1) Apalopteron really does look like a white-eye (albeit a large one), so identifying it as one is hardly surprising; (2) further phylogenetic analysis has also placed the white-eyes (previously regarded as a separate family) within the Timaliidae (Gelang et al. 2009), making Apalopteron‘s older position correct after all.
The Ogasawara islands are arranged in three groups—from north to south, these are the Mukojima, Chichijima and Hahajima groups. Shima (which often becomes voiced to –jima when used in a compound) is Japanese for “island”, while chichi is “father” and haha is “mother” (other islands in the group include ani and otōto [elder and younger brother] and ane and imōto [elder and younger sister]). Apalopteron familiare was originally found on all three groups, but currently survives only in the Hahajima group. As on many Pacific islands, the Ogasawara fauna has been pretty heavily hit since the arrival of humans due to habitat disturbal and introduced predators—among the endemic species to have become extinct in the group are a heron (Nycticorax crassirostris), pigeon (Columba versicolor), thrush (Turdus terrestris), finch (Chaunoproctus ferrugineus) and bat (Pipistrellus sturdeei) (Iwahashi 1992). The type subspecies of Bonin honeyeater (Apalopteron familiare familiare) became extinct on Mukojima by the 1940s (Morioka & Sakane 1978)*. Kawakami et al. (2008) found that dispersal between populations of Apalopteron on separate islands was very low, which would further increase its vulnerability.
*It is possible that a bit of revision may be required here. Suzuki & Morioka (2005) indicated that the type locality for Apalopteron familiare was probably Chichijima rather than Mukojima. Chichijima is considerably closer to Hahajima than it is to Mukojima, raising the question of whether the correct subspecies has been identified as the type.
Systematics of Sylviida
<==Sylviida [Acrocephalinae, Panurinae, Paradoxornithinae, Pomatorhinini, Suthorinae, Sylviinae, Sylviini]OF19
| i. s.: Bebrornis rodericanusFP64, USDI77
| Cichlornis grosvenoriFP64
| Calamodus Kaup 1829 [incl. Calamodyta Kaup 1829; Calamodytinae]B94
| `--‘Calamodyta’ newtoniS66
| Eroessa Hartlaub 1866H66
| `--*E. tenella Hartlaub 1866H66 [incl. Damia pusilla Pollen in Schlegel 1866 (n. n.)S66]
|--+--StenostiridaeOF19
| `--Hyliota [Hyliotidae]OF19
| |--H. australisJT12
| |--H. flavigasterBKB15
| |--H. usambaraJT12
| `--H. violaceaJT12
`--+--+--RemizidaeOF19
| `--ParidaeOF19
`--+--+--AlaudidaeOF19
| `--Panurus Koch 1816B94 [PanuridaeOF19]
| `--P. biarmicus (L. 1758)K00
`--+--Nicator [Nicatoridae]OF19
| |--N. chlorisBKB15
| |--N. gularisJT12
| `--N. vireoBKB15
`--+--MacrosphenidaeBKB15
`--+--LocustelloideaOF19
| |--+--CisticolidaeKF-V21
| | `--+--LocustellidaeKF-V21
| | `--+--BernieridaeOF19
| | `--Donacobius [Donacobiidae]KF-V21
| | |--D. atricapillaBKB15 (see below for synonymy)
| | `--D. vociferansB94
| `--+--+--Graueria vittataOF19
| | `--AcrocephalidaeKF-V21
| `--Pnoepyga Hodgson 1844GC09 [PnoepygidaeKF-V21]
| |--P. albiventerBKB15
| |--P. formosanaJT12
| |--P. immaculataJT12
| |--P. muticaAP21
| `--P. pusillaBKB15
`--+--HirundinidaeKF-V21
`--+--SylvioideaOF19
| |--PycnonotidaeOF19
| `--+--SylviidaeOF19
| `--+--+--TimaliidaeOF19
| | `--+--PellorneidaeOF19
| | `--LeiothrichidaeOF19
| `--Zosteropidae [Ixulinae, Yuhininae, Zosteropinae]AP21
| |--YuhinaOF19
| |--Megazosterops palauensisAP21
| |--Tephrozosterops stalkeriAP21
| `--Apalopteron familiare Kittlitz 1831AP21, I92
| |--A. f. familiareI92
| `--A. f. hahasima Yamashina 1930I92
`--AegithaloideaOF19
|--PhylloscopusKF-V21
`--+--HyliidaeOF19
| |--Hylia Cassin 1859BKB15, B94 [Hyliinae]
| | `--H. prasina (Cassin 1855)SPS03
| `--Pholidornis Hartlaub 1857SPS03, B94 [Pholidornithidae]
| `--P. rushiae (Cassin 1855)SPS03
`--+--AegithalidaeOF19
`--+--Erythrocercus [Erythrocercidae]OF19
| |--E. holochlorusJT12
| |--E. livingstoneiJT12
| `--E. mccalliiBKB15
`--+--CettiidaeOF19
`--Scotocerca [Scotocercidae]OF19
`--S. inquieta (Cretzschmar 1830) [=Malurus inquietus]S05
|--S. i. inquieta S05
`--S. i. saharae (Loche 1858) S05
Donacobius atricapillaGC09 [=Turdus atricapillusL03; incl. D. albolineatusL03, T. brasiliensisL03, Mimus brasiliensisL03]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.
[GC09] Gelang, M., A. Cibois, E. Pasquet, U. Olsson, P. Alström & P. G. P. Ericson. 2009. Phylogeny of babblers (Aves, Passeriformes): major lineages, family limits and classification. Zoologica Scripta 38: 225–236.
[H66] Hartlaub, G. 1866. On a new genus and species of birds from Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 218–219.
[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[K00] Krištofik, J. 2000. Synonymical notes to the Menacanthus species (Phthiraptera, Menoponidae) living on Passeriformes (Aves). Acta Parasitologica 45: 57–58.
[KF-V21] Kuhl, H., C. Frankl-Vilches, A. Bakker, G. Mayr, G. Nikolaus, S. T. Boerno, S. Klages, B. Timmermann & M. Gahr. 2021. An unbiased molecular approach using 3′-UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life. Molecular Biology and Evolution 38 (1): 108–127.
[L03] LeCroy, M. 2003. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 5. Passeriformes: Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, Campephagidae, Pycnonotidae, Irenidae, Laniidae, Vangidae, Bombycillidae, Dulidae, Cinclidae, Troglodytidae, and Mimidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 278: 1–156.
[OF19] Oliveros, C. H., D. J. Field, D. T. Ksepka, F. K. Barker, A. Aleixo, M. J. Andersen, P. Alström, B. W. Benz, E. L. Braun, M. J. Braun, G. A. Bravo, R. T. Brumfield, R. T. Chesser, S. Claramunt, J. Cracraft, A. M. Cuervo, E. P. Derryberry, T. C. Glenn, M. G. Harvey, P. A. Hosner, L. Joseph, R. T. Kimball, A. L. Mack, C. M. Miskelly, A. T. Peterson, M. B. Robbins, F. H. Sheldon, L. F. Silveira, B. T. Smith, N. D. White, R. G. Moyle & B. C. Faircloth. 2019. Earth history and the passerine superradiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 116 (16): 7916–7925.
[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[SPS03] Sefc, K. M., R. B. Payne & M. D. Sorenson. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships of African sunbird-like warblers: moho (Hyperergus atriceps), green hylia (Hylia prasina) and tit-hylia (Pholidornis rushiae). Ostrich 74: 8–17.
[S05] Steinheimer, F. D. 2005. Eduard Rüppel’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (2): 233–264.
[USDI77] United States Department of the Interior. 1977. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants—republication of list of species. Federal Register 42: 36420–36431.