Relationships and Radiations in the Meliphagine Honeyeaters, Meliphaga, Lichenostomus and Xanthotis (Aves, Meliphagidae) - Protein Evidence and Its Integration With Morphology and Ecogeography

Abstract

Protein electrophoresis was carried out on 32 of the c. 40 species of meliphagine honeyeaters and integrated with external morphology and ecogeography to clarify component lineages and their inter-relationships. Three primary lineages were identified, corroborating precisely the three controversial genera currently recognised in the Australo-Papuan region: (1) Lichenostomus with 20 species centred in Australian sclerophyllous habitats, (2) Meliphaga with 12 species in lowland New Guinean and Australian rainforests, and (3) Xanthotis with 3 species in Australo-Papuan rainforests. Except for the L. flavus-L. unicolor group, electrophoresis failed to corroborate consistently any of the morphologically based minor lineages in Lichenostomus and identified no consistent alternatives itself. Among the sibling species of Meliphaga, however, it distinguished two principal groups: the M. lewinii clade of two Australian ad one New Guinean species, and the M. analoga clade of seven New Guinean and one Australo-Papuan species and one Australian endemic, M. albilineata, hitherto of disputed position. Ecogeographic support for these groups is demonstrated. Affinities of peripheral taxa not screened electrophoretically are discussed. Evolutionary radiation among the major lineages is traced against the environmental oscillations of the Plio-Pleistocene in Australia and New Guinea.