Rough-legged Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias burmeisteri) [XC335747]
by Alexandre Bianco from Caraca Monastery, Minas Gerais, Brazil (call)
Rough-legged Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias burmeisteri) [XC677634]
by JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA from Trememb\u00e9, S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Phyllomyias burmeisteri (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was provisionally split into Rough-legged Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias burmeisteri), Zeledon's Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias zeledoni) and Phyllomyias leucogonys by Stotz et al. (1996). This treatment is not adopted following AOU (1998) who lump zeledoni with Rough-legged Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias burmeisteri) and SACC (2005) who lump leucogonys with Rough-legged Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias burmeisteri).
Genus as presently constituted may be polyphyletic; objective phylogenetic analysis, using molecular characters as well as anatomical ones, is required in order to define generic limits. Anatomical evidence suggests that Planalto Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias fasciatus), Grey-capped Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias griseocapilla) and Sooty-headed Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias griseiceps) may be unrelated to others of genus, some or all of which possibly better placed in resurrected genus Tyranniscus. Present species was for long treated in its own genus, Acrochordopus, because of distinctively serrated tarsus, but tarsal scutellation now known to be unreliable as a generic character in the family. Nominate subspecies and zeledoni sometimes considered to represent two distinct species, with the other four ("leucogonys group") forming a third species, but biological information about all populations remains scarce, and vocal and genetic relationships not yet studied. Investigation is needed especially in area of possible contact between leucogonys and nominate in southern Peru and northern Bolivia.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
zeledoni Cabanis & Heine, 1859 - Costa Rica, Panama, also north-western SA. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Zeledon's Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias zeledoni).
wetmorei (Aveledo and Pons, 1953) - Sierra de Perijá, in western Venezuela. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Zeledon's Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias zeledoni).
viridiceps (J. T. Zimmer and Phelps, Sr, 1944) - Mountains of northern Venezuela. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Zeledon's Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias zeledoni).
bunites (Wetmore and Phelps, Jr, 1956) - Chimantá-tepui, in south-eastern Bolívar (eastern Venezuela). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Zeledon's Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias zeledoni).
leucogonys (P. L. Sclater and Salvin, 1871) - Eastern Andes from Colombia south to south-eastern Peru. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, White-fronted Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias leucogonys).
burmeisteri Cabanis & Heine, 1859 - Eastern Andes of Bolivia and northern Argentina, also locally from eastern and south-eastern Brazil to south-eastern Paraguay.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet