Generic Status of Euler's Flycatcher: A Morphological and Biochemical Study

Abstract

Abstract A concordance in the distribution of uniquely derived character states of the syrinx and of six protein coding loci confirms that euleri should be removed from the genus Empidonax and that its nearest relatives are Cnemotriccus and Aphanotriccus. A hypothesis that euleri is the sister taxon of Aphanotriccus is based on the sharing of a uniquely derived syringeal structure and two synapomorphic allozymes, and on the comparatively low genetic distance between them. A new genus, Lathrotriccus, is proposed for euleri, which differs from Aphanotriccus in its cranial morphology. The reassignment of euleri increases the desirability of obtaining anatomical specimens and tissue of griseipectus, the only remaining South American endemic in Empidonax, and of tissue of Xenotriccus, a near relative of euleri on the basis of syringeal morphology.