Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 37(1) 1994

Issue:

VOL 37(1) 1994

Keywords:

Podicipediformes, osteology, taxonomy, Podicephorus gen. nov

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The comparative osteology of grebes (Aves: Podicipediformes) and its systematic implications

• Zbigniew M. BOCHEŃSKI

Abstract:

A total of 392 skeletons of grebes belonging to 20 taxa (16 species and 4 subspecies) were examined. Fifty-five osteological characters differentiating the species were found in all skeletal elements and several measurements of each bone were taken. To evaluate the relationship between the taxa examined, the measurements were subjected to a principal component analysis and cluster analysis, whereas the number of characters shared by two or more taxa was used for non-metrical comparisons. Sexual dimorphism in size of four taxa was studied in detail. The systematic position of all the genera of grebes is discussed and a revision of the genus Podiceps is proposed, to the effect that 1) the species “Podiceps” major is placed in a new monotypic genus Podicephorus, and 2) Podiceps grisegena grisegena and P. grisegena holboellii are restored to their species status.