AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

On the Geographical Ecology and Evolution of the Three-toed Woodpeckers, Picoides tridactylus and P. arcticus

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1974
Authors:Bock, CE, Bock, JH
Journal:American Midland Naturalist
Volume:92
Issue:2
Date Published:1974
ISBN Number:00030031
Keywords:Picidae, Picoides, Picoides tridactylus
Abstract:The distribution, ecology and evolution of the three-toed woodpeckers (Picoides) is given a new explanation resolving certain biogeographical paradoxes. One species, Picoides tridactylus, is circumboreally distributed with spruce (Picea), while the other species, P. arcticus, is a larger bird adapted to and distributed with North American closed boreal and montane coniferous forests. It seems highly likely that speciation occurred in North America during Pleistocene glaciation, when pre-tridactylus populations became isolated in the sprucedominated refugium of interior Alaska, and arcticus evolved in more substantial and diverse coniferous forests south of the ice cap.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/2424304
Short Title:American Midland Naturalist
Taxonomic name: 
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith