Description and systematics of the Eungella Honeyeater Meliphaga hindwoodi. A new species of Honeyeater from Central Eastern Queensland, Australia

Abstract

The Eungella Honeyeater Meliphaga hindwoodi is described from the highland rainforest of the Clarke Range, Queensland. It is closely related to M. frenata with which it had been combined previously, but differs from this and other members of the frenata species-group by its streaked ventral surface and much greyer plumage. The frenata-group is represented by highland rainforest species in New Guinea (M. subfrenata), the Atherton rainforest tract (M. frenata) and the Clarke Range (M. hindwoodi); a lowland rainforest species in New Guinea (M. obscura); and a sclerophyll forest species in eastern Australia (M. chrysops). The ancestral line of this species-group presumably oc- cupied rainforest which was distributed across the connected New Guinea - Australian landmass during a period of lowered sea level. When deteriorating environmental conditions forced the rainforest to retract, populations of this lineage became isolated in more favourable refuges where they differentiated into the present day species.