A new phylogeny and classification of the tinamous, volant palaeognathous birds from the Neotropics

Abstract

The Neotropical Tinamidae is the most diverse family of palaeognathous birds (Neornithes; Palaeognathae). The family contains the only species capable of powered flight, in striking contrast to all the other flightless, large-bodied, both living and recently extinct palaeognaths. Here we report our latest phylogenetic analysis of tinamous, built on previous comprehensive studies, presently including all 46 currently recognized. Our goal was to apply all the valid available supraspecific names to the clades recovered, creating new ones as needed. We recovered the traditional major subclades, forest-dwelling versus open-areas tinamous, with all three currently recognized genera in the former matching the chief groupings, and with two taxa in the latter that do not fit the current classification as per the phylogenetic results. Our analysis of the taxonomic history of tinamid taxa revealed complications chiefly due to the convoluted history of certain key names, particularly Tinamus. We disentangled the perceived misapplication of Tinamus to various tinamid taxa, concluding that Tinamus Hermann, 1783 and not Tinamus Latham, 1790, is valid, with its type species soui Hermann, 1783, currently placed in Crypturellus. The latter is further complicated by a history of preoccupation and renaming. As a consequence, a major rearrangement of species is needed, sorting the forest-dwelling tinamous into five instead of three genera, reassigning genera according to priority. In the open-areas tinamous (Tinamotidinae), we recognize two tribes and the phylogeny also indicated the need of a new genus to be applied to cinerascens, formerly in Nothoprocta; and the synonymy of Taoniscus, as the single species nanus was recovered nested in Nothura. We discuss at length our taxonomic proposal against alternatives; this is particularly complicated due to a long, unresolved taxonomic history.