Aramides saracura and Aramides cajaneus do not have a parapatric distribution, at least not in Paraguay: A reply to Marcondes and Silveira (Zookeys 500, 2015)

Abstract

A taxonomic review of the Grey-necked Wood-Rail Aramides cajaneus remarked on a “previously unnoticed” parapatric distribution of this species with respect to Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail Aramides saracura. It was postulated that the two might act to exclude each other and that this isolating mechanism might have driven the evolution of a coastal species A. avicenniae Stotz, 1992. Here we demonstrate that Grey-necked and Slaty-breasted Wood-Rails are widely sympatric in Paraguay (a portion of the species range that was not discussed by the authors) and propose that this pattern probably extends to other areas of the species range too. We consider that the theory of parapatry between both species is an artefact of insufficient data, and that any proposed evolutionary processes based on that theory thus require re-evaluation.

Keywords

• argentina
• grey-necked wood-rail
• slaty-breasted wood-rail