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International audience; We use multilocus molecular data and species distribution modelling to investigate the phylogenetics and the phylogeography of the White‐backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), a bird species widely distributed over the entire Palaearctic. Our phylogenetic results reveal three well‐supported clades within D. leucotos: the Chinese endemic subspecies (tangi, insularis), the northerly distributed subspecies (leucotos, uralensis) and the four poorly genetically differentiated Japanese subspecies (subcirris, stejnegeri, namiyei, owstoni), and the south‐western Palaearctic lilfordi subspecies. According to our results, the Amami Woodpecker, endemic to Amami Oshima Island (Ryukyu archipelago, Japan) sometimes treated as full species Dendrocopos owstoni, does not deserve a species‐level status. Based on the mitochondrial phylogeographic results, the Japanese archipelago was recently colonized only once by D. leucotos from eastern Eurasia. Our results suggest a split between the leucotos and lilfordi lineages that dates back to mid‐Pleistocene (around 0.6 Mya) with likely no gene flow between these two subspecies since then. Our results thus do not support a phylogeographic pattern in which Central Europe and Northern Europe were recolonized from one or several southern glacial refugia where lilfordi populations persisted through several Pleistocene glacial periods. Spatial variation in mitochondrial diversity across leucotos/uralensis populations and niche ecological modelling suggest a possible eastward population expansion from a unique glacial refugium likely located in Central Europe. Molecular species delimitation methods, gene flow analyses and differences in adult and juvenile plumage indicate that the lilfordi subspecies may warrant to be ranked as a valid phylogenetic species. Further studies are nevertheless needed in the Balkans, where leucotos and lilfordi came recently into contact to measure the effectiveness of reproductive barriers and gene flow.

We revise the taxonomy of the Sylvia cantillans complex, a group of phenotypically distinct warblers with mainly parapatric distributions around a large part of the Mediterranean basin. We redefine the species limits using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers and we objectively link available names to the genetically defined lineages by genotyping the surviving type specimens. In addition, the study of archival documents clarifies the exact composition of type series and provides further evidence for the identification of lost types. These results support the recognition of three species-level taxa: Moltoni’s warbler, Sylvia subalpina (north-central Italy, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics); the western subalpine warbler, S. iberiae (North Africa, Iberia, southern France and extreme north-west Italy); and the eastern subalpine warbler, S. cantillans, with subspecies S. cantillans cantillans (southern Italy, Sicily) and S. cantillans albistriata (Balkans, Greece, western Turkey). We revise the taxonomy of the Sylvia cantillans complex, a group of phenotypically distinct warblers with mainly parapatric distributions around a large part of the Mediterranean basin. We redefine the species limits using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers and we objectively link available names to the genetically defined lineages by genotyping the surviving type specimens. In addition, the study of archival documents clarifies the exact composition of type series and provides further evidence for the identification of lost types. These results support the recognition of three species-level taxa: Moltoni’s warbler, Sylvia subalpina (north-central Italy, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics); the western subalpine warbler, S. iberiae (North Africa, Iberia, southern France and extreme northwest Italy); and the eastern subalpine warbler, S. cantillans, with subspecies S. cantillans cantillans (southern Italy, Sicily) and S. cantillans albistriata (Balkans, Greece, western Turkey).

Intermittent incubation in birds is currently interpreted as the result of trade-offs between the needs of the embryo and those of the parents. However, the low nest attendance in some species is still puzzling. We studied the Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola), a tropical burrow nesting shorebird with very low incubation constancy (less than 55%) due to frequent recesses from incubation (on average 5 recesses/h), mostly spent in the colony area without any apparent function. We aimed to test whether such unusual incubation rhythm can be partly explained by the need to scan for approaching predators. Data collected at Dahret Island (Eritrea) between 2006 and 2014 support the antipredatory function of the incubation rhythm: (1) many recesses on the colony surface were so short (50% less than 37 s in the hotter periods) that a thermoregulatory function can be dismissed; (2) adults on the colony surface responded to approaching predators with alarm calls that drove most incubating Crab Plovers to run out of the burrows and to escape in flocks; (3) sound intensity sharply decreased inside burrows, which explains the delayed escape observed for 9% of the incubating birds; (4) the delayed exit when predators were still in the colony area rules out their permanence inside burrows as an alternative antipredatory strategy; (5) after the visit of a predator, adults restarted incubation with very short in-bouts (2 min on average) apparently in order to scan frequently for approaching predators. We discuss how burrow nesting, alarm calls, and the antipredatory reactions of adults (escape into or out of the burrows, flock flight, mobbing) and chicks (escape into burrows) might have favoured colonial breeding in Crab Plovers.

Being trapped is a potentially stressful experience, especially for breeding birds, so capture should be limited to target individuals and be as least harmful as possible. We describe here a modified leg-noose trap that we developed for the burrow nesting Crab-plover (Dromas ardeola). Similar to other commonly used devices, it consists of monofilament fishing line nooses secured to a heavy metal base. We modified this traditional device by positioning the nooses perpendicular to the bird movement and by adding shock-absorbing elastic bands. This last addition proved effective in protecting the captured bird's legs from superficial wounds and abrasions; it did not affect capture success relative to a version of the same trap lacking these improvements. Such improvements could be applied to similar noose traps employed for other birds in order to reduce discomfort and avoid injury.

The timing of breeding in birds is a life-history trait that generally depends on food availability, but other factors may play a role, particularly in tropical areas where food availability is less seasonal than in temperate or polar areas. We studied the factors affecting the breeding season of the Crab Plover Dromas ardeola, a burrownesting colonial shorebird endemic to the north-western Indian Ocean. A reduced risk of burrow flooding, high temperatures suitable for exploiting solar incubation, a reduced interference by Palaearctic shorebirds during foraging, a reduced risk of predation by Palaearctic raptors and a high food abundance are all associated with the summer breeding season of the Crab Plover in our study area in Eritrea. In addition, we collected remotely recorded data associated with these advantageous environmental factors around breeding colonies in nine well-separated areas. Only average annual chlorophyll a concentration, a proxy of marine productivity, was significantly correlated wit...

The Danakil Depression in northeastern Africa represents one of the harshest arid environments on Earth, yet two genera of fishes, Danakilia (Cichlidae) and Aphanius (Cyprinodontidae), share its sparse aquatic habitats. The evolutionary history of these fishes is investigated here in the context of genetic, geological and paleoenvironmental information. We collected samples from seven sites and assessed phylogeographic relationships using concatenated COI and cytb mtDNA genes. Danakilia morphospecies show low differentiation at mitochondrial markers, but variation is partitioned between a northern cluster containing D. dinicolai plus three undescribed riverine populations, and a southern cluster including two creek populations of D. franchettii separated by the hypersaline waters of Lake Afrera. Aphanius displayed four genetically distinct clades (A. stiassnyae in Lake Afrera; one distributed across the entire area; one in Lake Abaeded; and one in the Shukoray River), but without clear large-scale geographic structure. However, Danakil Aphanius are clearly differentiated from A. dispar sensu stricto from the Sinai Peninsula. Geological evidence suggests that after the Late Pleistocene closure of the Danakil-Red Sea connection, increased post-glacial groundwater availability caused the formation of a brackish paleo-lake flooding the entire region below the -50 m contour. Fish populations previously isolated in coastal oases during glaciation were able to mix in the paleo-lake. Subsequently, in a more arid phase starting ∼7300 BP, paleo-lake regression isolated fishes in separate drainages, triggering their still ongoing diversification.

We used GPS data-loggers, video-recordings and dummy eggs to assess whether foraging needs may force the low incubation attentiveness (

The gazelles of Dahlak Kebir are the only population of Nanger soemmerringii Cretzschmar, 1828 living on an island. Little is known on the biology of these animals, except that they are evidently smaller than their conspecifics living on the continent. We took advantage of a recently acquired collection of crania, probably the largest available study sample of the Dahlak Kebir population worldwide, to explore the phenotypic variation of this island endemism. To this aim, we employed state of the art geometric morphometrics techniques and multivariate statistics to compare the insular population with samples of two out of three subspecies of N. soemmerringii from continental Africa. We found that not only is the size of the animal remarkably smaller in Dahlak Kebir gazelles, but their cranial shape is also highly distinctive, and this might be only partly explained by allometry. We also showed that phenotypic variance might have been reduced in the island population, likely as a consequence of genetic bottlenecks. This unique population is part of a species vulnerable to extinction. Our results suggest that the Dahlak Kebir Island gazelles might represent a significant component of its variation and potential for adaptive change and evolution. More information, including molecular data, and an accurate assessment of its taxonomic relevance and conservation status, is urgently needed. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 111, 603–620.

Determining the sex of Crab Plovers (Dromas ardeola) based on morphology has, hitherto, proven difficult. Here, six morphological traits (head-bill length, bill length, bill depth, wing chord, tarsus length and weight) of 39 molecularly or behaviorally sexed breeding Crab Plovers were compared in order to find a reliable morphometric way to determine their sex. Males were significantly larger than females in all traits, except tarsus length, and especially in traits related to head and bill size, where males were 6.8 to 11.4% larger than females. Discriminant Function Analysis correctly classified 97.4% of birds using only bill depth and bill length, providing an efficient tool for sexing Crab Plovers in the hand.

The Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) is a little-known shorebird that breeds colonially in self-dug burrows on islands in the north-western Indian Ocean. To test whether the “nest site limitation” hypothesis could satisfactorily explain the high nest density in this species, 21 colonies were studied in Eritrea from 2002 to 2009. The hypothesis was falsified by the following observations: across the study period, nesting colonies were relocated on the same sandbanks every year and most occupied no more than 4% of the area suitable for excavating burrows; colony size and area suitable for burrowing were not correlated; nest density and colony size were not significantly correlated; the area occupied by nests increased steadily throughout the nest-building period; nests were closely-spaced throughout the building phase rather than being scattered throughout the area eventually used for digging. These results indicate that the Crab Plover is not site-limited but a truly colonial species.

We describe 30 new nesting sites of the Crab Plover Dromas ardeola , the main breeding grounds of which were largely unknown, and for which fewer than 30 colonies had been confirmed since 1970. Our survey included 90 islands, 53% of those existing, in the Dahlak and Howakil archipelagoes, and off the coast of central Eritrea. Colony size varied between 20 and 400 nests. We estimate the numbers of Crab Plovers breeding in central Eritrea at 5000‐6000 pairs, i.e. about 50% of the known world breeding population. We describe two cases of probable replacement clutches, a feature unrecorded in this species. Black Rats Rattus rattus seem unable to open Crab Plover eggs, and do not seem to be a threat. Crab Plover colonies are traditionally exploited by local fishermen for collection of eggs, an activity that has increased recently. Our new records solve only partially the problem of the ‘missing’ colonies that are required to account for the world wintering population of 60 000‐80 000 birds, and thus other breeding sites remain to be discovered, probably in southern Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia. We estimated that there are 4800‐6500 Crab Plovers overwintering within central Eritrea, making it an important wintering ground for the species.

The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss of scientific relevance, decreasing economic investments, and scarcity of personnel. This is extremely alarming, especially for ensuring the long-term preservation of the precious collections they host. Moreover, a commitment in fieldwork to increase scientific collections and concurrent taxonomic research are rarely considered priorities, while most of the activities are addressed to public events with political payoffs, such as exhibits, didactic meetings, expositions, and talks. This is possibly due to the absence of a national museum that would have better steered research activities and overall concepts for collection management. We here propose that Italian natural history museums collaborate to instate a “metamuseum”, by establishing a reciprocal interaction network aimed at sharing budgetary and technical resources, which would assure better coordination of common long-term goals and scientific activities.

To evaluate visitors' use of the exhibitions and the communication strategy of the Milan Natural History Museum, we compared results gathered with two methods, based respectively on the timing of visitors and on the unobtrusive observation of exhibit-use behaviors. We collected data from a sample of 100 groups of visitors (not guided), randomly selected at the museum entrance. We recorded the following data for each group: halls visited, length of stay in each hall, any kind of behavior showing visitor/exhibition interaction and the displays where interactions occurred. The study shows that visiting time does not give enough information about the actual use of exhibits by the audience. The investigation of visitor/exhibition interactions revealed itself to be the most usual method to describe the visitors' use of the exhibitions. The most important factor influencing visits to the Milan Natural History Museum is the communication technique used in the exhibition areas.

We describe an unknown mode of solar-assisted egg development in the crab plover Dromas ardeola, a shorebird that breeds in self-excavated burrows. The insulating properties of the nest burrow and the intense solar radiation allowed egg development at near-optimal temperature (35.2°C±0.2) and humidity (60.2%±4.4), allowing a very low incubation attendance by the parent birds (28.3% of time, with recesses lasting up to 58 h). Crab plovers did not abandon completely parental incubation, possibly because of the need to turn their egg, and because the slight warming provided by parents (0.8°C) may improve hatching. This is the first case of solar assisted incubation in a species unrelated to the Megapodiidae, the only birds known to develop their eggs without contact incubation.