Syd,
I am sure there are some taxonomists out there who can explain it better -
please feel free to correct me!
There is heaps of - partially controversial - literature out there.
Here my very simplified summary (I am avoiding terms like monophyletic and
polyphyletic).
Geophaps, Ocyphaps, Phaps and Petrophassa are all relatively closely related to
each other. Ocyphaps is somewhere between Geophaps and Phaps (i.e. Crested
Pigeon is kind of a connecting link between Geophaps and the Bronzewings).
Petrophassa (Rock Pigeons) seems to be closer to Geophaps than to Ocyphaps and
Phaps.
If you include Ocyphaps in Geophaps - as some authorities have done - then you
may need to consider to combine all three - Geophaps, Ocyphaps, Phaps - in one
genus. But then, what happens to Petrophassa? Petrophassa may then also need to
be included. In this case the next set of relatives Wonga Pigeon (Leucosarcia
melanoleuca) and Geopelia (Peaceful Dove & Co.) may need to be included, too.
You see, it is getting very complicated.
Therefore it may be better to keep Crested Pigeon in its own genus.
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
________________________________
From: Syd Curtis <>
To: " bird" <>
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 9:53 AM
Subject: Crested v. Spinifex Pigeon taxonomy
I received via email from W A, a lovely photo of a pigeon with a crest. The
email did not name it. Checked my bird books and decided it is a Spinifex
Pigeon (Geophaps plumifera)
I was intrigued to note how similar in appearance it is to the crested pigeon
(Ocyphaps lophotes), and mystified to see that they are in different genera.
Is there a taxonomist out there who can explain for me (in lay language) why
this is so?
T I A
Syd Curtis
(in Brisbane)
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