Myology and Serology of the Avian Family Fringillidae A Taxonomic Study   By: William B. Stallcup

Volume 8, No. 2, pp. 157 211, figures 1 23, 4 tables

November 15, 1954

Myology and Serology of the Avian Family Fringillidae, A Taxonomic Study

BY WILLIAM B. STALLCUP

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1954

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 8, No. 2, pp. 157 211, figures 1 23, 4 tables Published November 15, 1954

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1954 [Union Label] 25 4632

Myology and Serology of the Avian Family Fringillidae, A Taxonomic Study

BY WILLIAM B. STALLCUP

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 160

MYOLOGY OF THE PELVIC APPENDAGE 162 General Statement 162 Materials and Methods 163 Description of Muscles 164 Discussion of Myological Investigations 175

COMPARATIVE SEROLOGY 185 General Statement 185 Preparation of Antigens 186 Preparation of Antisera 188 Methods of Serological Testing 188 Experimental Data 190 Discussion of Serological Investigations 190

CONCLUSIONS 201

SUMMARY 208

LITERATURE CITED 210

INTRODUCTION

The relationships of many groups of birds within the Order Passeriformes are poorly understood. Most ornithologists agree that some of the passerine families of current classifications are artificial groups. These artificial groupings are the result of early work which gave chief attention to readily adaptive external structures. The size and shape of the bill, for example, have been over emphasized in the past as taxonomic characters. It is now recognized that the bill is a highly adaptive structure and that it frequently shows convergence and parallelism.

Since studies of external morphology have failed in some cases to provide a clear understanding of the relationships of passerine birds, it seems appropriate that attention be given to other morphological features, to physiological features, and to life history studies in an attempt to find other clues to relationships at the family and subfamily levels.