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Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

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158 4 Ornithologist <strong>and</strong> Zoogeographer<br />

Malay Archipelago<br />

Mayr also initiated taxonomic studies of birds from further west of New Guinea,<br />

based on collections made in Borneo, western China <strong>and</strong> northern Burma. This<br />

greatly added to his knowledge of species <strong>and</strong> literature. He studied the birds of<br />

prey of the Lesser Sunda Isl<strong>and</strong>s (1941m) <strong>and</strong> the birds of Timor <strong>and</strong> Sumba Isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />

(1944e) describing 19 new subspecies <strong>and</strong> analyzing the relationships within numerous<br />

species groups. Because of the dry climate <strong>and</strong> vegetation of these isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />

the bird fauna is comparatively poor <strong>and</strong> endemism is not strongly marked. Important<br />

zoogeographic considerations appended to these taxonomic discussions<br />

will be mentioned below (see p. 179ff.).<br />

Fig.4.8. The drongo superspecies Dicrurus [hottentottus], Dicruridae. Tail forms <strong>and</strong> inferred<br />

dispersal routes of three branches of this highly variable superspecies are shown.<br />

Bizarre shapes of tail feathers developed in the geographically most peripheral populations.<br />

Solid line: theearliestbranchtodisperse;dotted line: the next branch; dashed line: the most<br />

recently dispersing branch. D. balicassius, a closely related species, occupies a range in the<br />

northern Philippines allopatric to D. hottentottus in the southern Philippines. The closely<br />

related D. montanus, the product of a double invasion of Celebes (Sulawesi) by D. hottentottus,<br />

now lives in the mountains of Sulawesi above D. hottentottus inthelowl<strong>and</strong>s.Thenine<br />

numbers on the map indicate the geographic ranges of nine taxa whose tails are depicted at<br />

upper right. For identification of these taxa <strong>and</strong> additional details see Mayr <strong>and</strong> Diamond<br />

(2001, map 52)

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