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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Certhia tianquanensis Li, a treecreeper with relict distribution in Sichuan, China

subject

description

Certhia tianquanensis Li, 1995, is characterised as a distinct species and is combined withC. discolor in the superspeciesC. [discolor]. This probably relict species occupies an extremely small range, and has so far been found at only four sites in western Sichuan, China. It is characterised by a long tail (likeC. discolor), an extremely short bill (similar toC. nipalensis), the patterning on the underside, with white chin and throat and beige chest and abdomen (likeC. himalayana), a striking voice (clearly different fromC. discolor and all otherCerthia species), and a large genetic distance fromC. d. discolor in the cytochrome-b gene. Unlike its closest relativeC. discolor, C. tianquanensis belongs to the Palearctic fauna; it lives in a region of China inhabited by a number of relict species, several of which are closely related to species in the northern taiga zone.C. tianquanensis is not a close relative ofC. familiaris, although it was originally described as a subspecies of the latter and they are locally syntopic. The number of species in the genusCerthia thus rises from six to seven. — Chinese summary: www.do-g.de/journals/