Paul Salaman 84 Bull. B.O.C. 2015 135(1) A new subspecies of Three-striped Warbler Basileuterus tristriatus in the Serrania de San Lucas, Colombia by Paul Salaman Received 7 September 2014 A population of Three-striped Warbler B. tristriatus in the Serrania de San Lucas, dpto. Bolivar, northern Colombia, was discovered in 2001 (Salaman et al. 2001, 2002). It was immediately evident from their bright yellow coloration that these birds represented a new taxon, and the expedition reports considered that they 'may relate to an undescribed subspecies' (Salaman et al. 2001) and subsequently were considered 'to represent an undescribed subspecies' (Salaman et al. 2002). Two independent taxonomic studies (Gutierrez-Pinto et al. 2012, Donegan 2014) have confirmed that this population differs in its molecular biology and voice. Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012) concluded that Three-striped Warblers in San Lucas represent an 'undescribed subsp.' while Donegan (2014) also referred to the population as 'undescribed', but noted that Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012) had declared an intent to do so. Following communication with all of the above-mentioned authors, confirming their lack of intention to proceed with a description of their own and their consent to this publication, 1 now propose that the San Lucas population be named: Basileuterus tristriatus sanlucasensis subsp. nov. Holotype.—Adult male, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Colombia (ICN) no. 34167. Extracted from a mist-net by P. Salaman and prepared as a specimen by T. M. Donegan, at El Reten, near La Punta, Santa Rosa del Sur, Serrania de San Lucas, Bolivar (08°08'47"N, 74°12'48"W; 1,400 m) on 18 March 2001. The specimen is illustrated in Donegan (2012: Fig. 2). Paratype.— Adult female, ICN 34178, mist-netted and prepared by P. Salaman on 19 March 2001 at the same locality as the holotype. Also illustrated in Donegan (2012: Fig. 2). Diagnosis. — Available sound-recordings of sanlucasensis differ from those of other populations of B. tristriatus in having a shorter introduction to the rising song and in not attaining such low minimum acoustic frequencies in rising or slow songs (Donegan 2014: cf. Appendix 2 and sonograms in Figs. 3A and 4E thereof, alongside data pertaining to, and sonograms of, vocalisations of other B. tristriatus subspecies). Considered phenotypically distinct from other populations of B. tristriatus (Salaman et al. 2002, Gutierrez-Pinto et al. 2012), except those in the northernmost Central Andes (part of B. t. daedalus: Donegan 2014). The new subspecies has yellower underparts and fore crown-stripe than adjacent populations of B. tristriatus (Salaman et al. 2002, Curson 2010), being closer in plumage to geographically distant and vocally differentiated populations on the east slope of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru (referred to B. t. baezae or B. t. tristriatus) in this character (Gutierrez-Pinto et al. 2012). Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012: 5) sampled mtDNA of the holotype and paratype, finding the San Lucas population to be 'significantly divergent from the adjacent populations of the Central (0ST = 0.801, p<0.005; mean uncorrected distance = 0.046) and Eastern cordillera (<E>sr = 0.816, p<0.005; mean pairwise difference = 0.039)', whose populations are ascribed to B. t. daedalus and B. t. auricularis, respectively; and found San Lucas specimens to form a phylogenetically basal group with respect to these two Andean populations (Fig. 3, clade D). © 2015 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2015 British Ornithologists' Club Paul Salaman 85 Bull. B.O.C. 2015 135(1) Description of holotype.— Colour descriptions follow Munsell Color (1977, 2000) and were taken by TMD from the holotype at ICN in January 2010. Sides of crown, lores and ear-coverts black (not coded). Crown-stripe yellow (5Y 7/8), paler (5Y 7/3) on nape and forecrown. Supercilium and lower eye-ring cream (5Y 7/2), moustachial off-white (5Y 8/1) with narrow darker moustachial stripe. Whitish (5Y 7/2) mark behind ear-coverts. Upperparts, fringes to tail and wing-coverts, and thighs and flanks olive (2.5GY 5/6 but darker). Wing-coverts, flight feathers and tail otherwise dusky (5Y 3/2), with leading edge of first primary paler (5Y 8/12). Chin cream (5Y 8.2), throat light yellow (5Y 8/2) and breast somewhat more fulvous (5Y 7.5/8) with very pale olive speckles. Belly yellow (5Y 8/8). Upper breast-sides olive (as back). Emarginations on second, third and fourth primaries (from the outermost), with slight emargination on fifth primary. Wingtip formed by third and fourth primaries. The specimen label bears the following data: iris dark brown, bill greyish horn, legs pale yellow-brown. Mass 12.4 g. Left testis 7.0 * 6.7 mm. Trace of fat. Skull ossified, stomach empty. Forest edge. 1,400 m. Colombian EBA Project EBA 01 #4. Variation.—The paratype is marginally paler on its upper breast, has a paler olive mantle and is smaller bodied. The iris of an individual captured at Santa Cecilia, San Lucas, in 2010 was coded in the field as brown (2.5Y 2.5/2). Six individuals trapped by T. M. Donegan at the latter locality also had bright yellow underparts and crown (e.g. Donegan 2014: Figs. 1E-F). A photograph of the new subspecies in life appeared in Salaman et al. (2002: Fig. 3). Variation in biometrics is detailed in Appendix 1 of Donegan (2014) and in voice in Appendix 2 of Donegan (2014). Distribution.—Occurs only in the Serrania de San Lucas (Salaman et al. 2001: Fig. 1; Salaman et al. 2002: Fig. 1) where known from two highland localities: La Punta (details above: see Salaman et al. 2001, 2002) and Santa Cecilia (cf. Donegan 2012, 2014). Recorded at 1,400-1,600 m, but doubtless ranges higher. Unrecorded at various low-elevation sites in San Lucas (Salaman et al. 2001), so unlikely to occur below 1,350 m, at least on the east slope of the massif. Vocalisations.—See the diagnosis, discussion and sonograms in Donegan (2014: Figs. 3A, 5E and 7E-F). Etymology. — Named for the Serrania de San Lucas. The name is based on the Spanish word for Saint (San) and the personal noun (Lucas), the beatified gospel author who gives his name to the range. The adjectival Latin suffix '-ensis' (pertaining to or originating from) is invariable. The recommended English name is 'San Lucas Warbler' or in Spanish 'Aranero de San Lucas'. Taxonomic rank.—Treated as a subspecies following Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012) and Donegan (2014). Clearly a phylogenetic species, with apparently deep molecular differentiation and some vocal differentiation from other populations. ITowever, under the Biological Species Concept, the requirements of 'species scoring' tests for allopatric populations (Tobias et al. 2010) are not met, with estimated scores of 0 for plumage or biometrics (vs. the northernmost populations of B. t. daedalus), 2-3 for acoustic frequency differences and 1-2 for length of trill in male songs, giving a score of 3-5, i.e. fewer than the seven required for species status under the Tobias et al. system. Conservation.—There is no protected area within the range of this population. It is of utmost urgency that conservation measures be designed to protect the Serrania de San Lucas. A discussion of the region's conservation issues is set out in Salaman et al. (2001, 2002) and Donegan (2012). ICZN Code of Ethics. — Although Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012) stated an intention to describe this population, communications with all of these authors confirmed that none of them now intends to publish a description or wished to co-author this description. T. M. © 2015 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2015 British Ornithologists' Club Paul Salaman 86 Bull. B.O.C. 2015 135(1) Donegan declined to be an author because he did not want to participate in a description without any of Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012). It is an important outcome that this population be described because taxonomic recognition of a first San Lucas endemic could help motivate long-outstanding conservation plans for the region. All of the persons mentioned in this paragraph fully support this description being published. Acknowledgements Thanks to Thomas Donegan for his support and companionship during many expeditions in Colombia, especially as we strived to reach the mythical 'Teta' of Serrania de San Lucas. Sadly, 17 years later, it appears that no one has yet reached the highest peaks of San Lucas, which surely support much undescribed biodiversity, i acknowledge CORANTIOQUIA and ICN-MHN for permitting our work in San Lucas. I am very grateful for advice and assistance from: Andres Cuervo, Juan Lazaro Toro, Jose Manuel Ochoa, Alonso Quevedo, F. Gary Stiles, Alex Cortes, Walter H. Weber, Carlos Gonzalez, Xavier Bustos, M. Gonzalo Andrade, Luis Angel Ramirez, and the mayors and Farmers' and Miners' Municipal Unions of San Pablo, Puerto Lopez, El Bagre and Santa Rosa del Sur. Many thanks to the local people of Serrania de San Lucas, especially the communities of El Bagre, Puerto Lopez, Puerto Wilches, San Pablo, Bajo Taracue, Canabraval, Canaletal, Vallecito, Patio Bonito, Santa Rosa and La Punta for their interest and assistance. The EBA expeditions were made possible only by generous financial support by the British Ornithologists' Union, Royal Geographic Society, Cambridge Expeditions Fund, Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, Kilverstone Wildlife Trust, World Pheasant Association and others credited in Salaman et al. (2001). Thanks to Andres Cuervo, Natalia Gutierrez, C. Daniel Cadena, Robb Brumfield, Jhonathan Miranda and Jorge Perez-Eman for facilitating this description. Edward Dickinson and Dick Schodde provided comments on the submitted version of the manuscript. I acknowledge all other persons cited as supporting the studies of Salaman et al. (2001, 2002), Gutierrez-Pinto et al. (2012) and Donegan (2014) for their contributions to this description. References: Curson, J. 2010. Family Parulidae (New World warblers). Pp. 666-800 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D. A. (eds.) Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 15. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Donegan, T. M. 2012. Range extensions and other bird notes from Serrania de San Lucas, a little-known, isolated mountain range in northern Colombia. Bull Brit. Orn. Cl. 132: 140-161. Donegan, T. M. 2014. Geographical variation in morphology and voice of Three-striped Warbler Basileuterus tristriatus. Bull Brit. Orn. Cl. 134: 79-109. Gutierrez-Pinto, N., Cuervo, A. M., Miranda, J., Perez-Eman, J. L., Brumfield, R. T. & Cadena, C. D. 2012. Non-monophyly and deep genetic differentiation across low-elevation barriers in a Neotropical montane bird (Basileuterus tristriatus; Aves: Parulidae). Mol. Phyl. & Evol. 64: 156-165. Munsell Color. 1977. Munsell color charts for plant tissues. GretagMacbeth LLC, New York. Munsell Color. 2000. Munsell soil color charts. GretagMacbeth LLC, New York. Salaman P., Donegan T. M., Gonzalez, C., Bustos, X. & Cuervo, A. 2001. Presenting the first biological assessment of Serrania de San Lucas. Colombian EBA Project Rep. Ser. 3. Salaman, P., Donegan, T. M. & Cuervo, A. M. 2002. New distributional bird records from Serrania de San Lucas and adjacent Central Cordillera of Colombia. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 122: 285-304. Address: Rainforest Trust, 25 Horner Street, Warrenton, VA 20187, USA, e-mail: [email protected] © 2015 The Authors; Journal compilation © 2015 British Ornithologists' Club