On the geographical ecology and evolution of the three-toed woodpeckers, Picoides tridactylus and P. arcticus

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Bock, Carl E.; Bock, Jane H.

Source:

American Midland Naturalist, University of Notre Dame, Volume 92, Issue 2, p.397-405 (1974)

Call Number:

A74BOC01IDUS

Keywords:

Black-backed Woodpecker, Eurasian Three-Toed Woodpecker, Picoides arcticus, 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 spruce-dominated refugium of interior Alaska, and arcticus evolved in more substantial and diverse coniferous forests south of the ice cap.

Notes:

Reference Code: A74BOC01IDUS

Full Citation: Bock, C. E., and J. H. Bock. 1974. On the geographical ecology and evolution of the three-toed woodpeckers, Picoides tridactylus and P. arcticus. American Midland Naturalist 92(2): 397-405.

Location: ANIMAL EF: BIRDS