Abstract
The Arabian population of the Abyssinian White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus arabs occurs in the Asir Mountains in southwest Saudi Arabia, the highlands of Yemen, and southwest Oman. In Saudi Arabia, a recently discovered, very small, and enigmatic population of white-eyes Zosterops sp. indet. occurs in stands of mature mangroves on the Kingdom’s southern Red Sea coast 80–100 km west of the nearest locality of Z. a. arabs in the Asir Mountains. We obtained biometric data and blood samples from individuals of both populations, in the Asir Mountains and the Red Sea mangroves, complemented by measurements from museum specimens from throughout the range of Z. a. arabs. The mangrove-dwelling white-eyes were found to differ in morphometrics and several plumage characters from montane Abyssinian White-eyes Z. a. arabs. However, no differences were revealed by one mitochondrial marker between four ‘Mangrove White-eyes’ and five Z. a. arabs from the Asir Mountains. ‘Mangrove White-eyes’ might thus represent the result of a recent colonization followed by niche divergence, and a putative case of incipient speciation in one of the fastest-radiating vertebrate lineages. A review of the scant available literature and our own surveys indicate that the ‘Mangrove White-eye’ is very scarce within a highly restricted and threatened range, and presumably at risk of extinction.
Zusammenfassung
Morphologische Unterschiede zwischen „Mangroven-Brillenvögel“ und Somalibrillenvögel Zosterops abyssinicus arabs in Arabien trotz fehlender Differenzierung in der mitochondrialen DNA—ein Fall von initialer Artbildung durch Nischendivergenz?
Die arabische Population des Somalibrillenvogels Zosterops abyssinicus arabs kommt in den Asir-Bergen im Südwesten Saudi-Arabiens, im Hochland des Jemens und im Südwesten Omans vor. In Beständen ausgewachsener Mangroven gibt es zudem in Saudi-Arabien an der südlichen Küste des Roten Meers eine erst kürzlich entdeckte rätselhafte kleine Population von Brillenvögeln Zosterops sp. indet., nur 80–100 km westlich vom nächsten Vorkommen von Z. a. arabs im Asir-Gebirge. Für diese Studie wurden biometrische Daten und Blutproben von Individuen beider Populationen im Asir-Gebirge und in den Mangroven des Roten Meeres gesammelt, ergänzt mit Messungen an Museumsexemplaren aus dem gesamten Verbreitungsgebiet von Z. a. arabs. Die in den Mangroven lebenden Brillenvögel erwiesen sich als klar unterschiedlich von den übrigen Somalibrillenvögel Z. a. arabs sowohl in ihrer Morphometrie als auch in einigen Gefiedermerkmalen. Ein mitochondrialer Marker zeigte jedoch keine Unterschiede zwischen vier Brillenvögeln der Mangrovenpopulation und fünf Individuen von Z. a. arabs aus dem Asir-Gebirge. Die in den Mangroven lebenden Brillenvögel sind vermutlich das Resultat einer kürzlich erfolgten Kolonisation in Kombination mit Nischendivergenz und könnten am Beginn des Artbildungsprozesses stehen. Brillenvögel weisen innerhalb der Wirbeltiere eine der höchsten Artbildungsraten auf. Eine Durchsicht der wenigen verfügbaren Literatur und unsere eigenen Erhebungen deuten darauf hin, dass die „Mangroven-Brillenvögel" in ihrem stark eingeschränkten Verbreitungsgebiet und bedrohten Habitat sehr selten und vermutlich vom Aussterben bedroht sind.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Saudi Aramco for permitting us to undertake two ringing sessions to gather data on these interesting Zosterops, and Philip Roberts and Abdullah Alsuhaibany for additional field assistance. GMK was able to examine relevant museum material thanks to the kindness of Mark Adams and Hein van Grouw (Natural History Museum, Tring), and James P. Dean and Gary R. Graves (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). His visit to the Smithsonian and other collections in North America, in 2006, was kindly part-sponsored by the Ornithological Society of the Middle East and the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. We thank Hannes Baur for help with the morphometric analyses. Julia Day and an anonymous referee made constructive suggestions that improved the submitted draft manuscript.
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Babbington, J., Boland, C.R.J., Kirwan, G.M. et al. Morphological differences between ‘Mangrove White-eye’ and montane Abyssinian White-eye (Zosterops abyssinicus arabs) in Arabia despite no differentiation in mitochondrial DNA: incipient speciation via niche divergence?. J Ornithol 161, 1051–1060 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01788-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-020-01788-3