09.03.2013 Views

Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Birds of Oceania 155<br />

localities in New Guinea at the end of the book is most useful to the user. The<br />

classification of the families used in this book follows Wetmore’s proposal as far<br />

as the non-passerine groups are concerned <strong>and</strong> Stresemann’s proposal for the<br />

Passeriformes.<br />

Fig.4.6. Distribution of jay-sized Paradise Magpies, Astrapia nigra superspecies, of New<br />

Guinea (data from Gilliard 1969, <strong>and</strong> Cooper <strong>and</strong> Forshaw 1977). 1 A. nigra, 2 A. splendidissima,<br />

3 A. mayeri, 4 A. stephaniae, 5 A. rothschildi. Adult males (illustrated) are mainly<br />

black with much green <strong>and</strong> purple iridescence, tail greatly elongated <strong>and</strong> black or black <strong>and</strong><br />

white to white; females are more brownish with barred underparts. Hybridization has been<br />

recorded in the zone of contact between A. mayeri <strong>and</strong> A. stephaniae. Ernst Mayr (1942e,<br />

1945h) used this group to discuss allopatric speciation: These five species, “descending from<br />

a common stock, have differentiated under conditions of geographical isolation. Each is<br />

restricted to a single mountain range, <strong>and</strong> none can exist in the lowl<strong>and</strong>s. The differences<br />

acquired by these five species are a graphic illustration of evolution.”

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!