Taxonomic review of the polytypic species Tolmomyias flaviventris (Wied, 1831) (Aves: Rhynchocyclidae) using molecular, morphological and vocal analyses

The Ochre-lored Flatbill (Tolmomyias flaviventris; Rhynchocyclidae) currently includes six recognised subspecies based exclusively on morphological characteristics (T. f. flaviventris, T. f. subsmilis, T. f. viridiceps, T. f. aurulentus, T. f. zimmeri and T. f. dissors), presenting a broad distribution across most northern and central South America, including parts of Panama, inhabiting a great diversity of forest types. Using multilocus molecular analyses, allied with morphological and vocal characters, this study aimed to define whether these six subspecies represent distinct valid taxonomic units. We sequenced 42 tissue samples covering four out of the six subspecies of T. flaviventris. The molecular analyses revealed at least four different clades whose limits were not concordant with currently recognised subspecies. In the group’s phylogeography there is a substantial separation between western Amazonian populations (T. f. viridiceps) and the others (Nothern and East Amazonia and Eastern Brazil), which is also evident in the haplotype network and genetic distances analyses. The morphological and vocal data also validate these results, showing a clear diagnosis between these two sets of populations. The results obtained are congruent with the elevation of the western Amazonian population to the species level, as proposed by some authors, named Tolmomyias viridiceps, which would include three subspecies (T. v. viridiceps, T. v. subsimilis and T. v. zimmeri).