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Tropical mountains feature marked species turnover along elevational gradients and across complex topography, resulting in great concentrations of avian biodiversity. In these landscapes, particularly among morphologically conserved and difficult to observe avian groups, species limits still require clarification. One such lineage is Scytalopus tapaculos, which are among the morphologically most conserved birds. Attention to their distinctive vocal repertoires and phylogenetic relationships has resulted in a proliferation of newly identified species, many of which are restricted range endemics. Here, we present a revised taxonomy and identify species limits among high-elevation populations of Scytalopus tapaculos inhabiting the Peruvian Andes. We employ an integrated framework using a combination of vocal information, mitochondrial DNA sequences, and appearance, gathered from our own fieldwork over the past 40 yr and supplemented with community-shared birdsong archives and museum specimens. We describe 3 new species endemic to Peru. Within all 3 of these species there is genetic differentiation, which in 2 species is mirrored by subtle geographic plumage and vocal variation. In a fourth species, Scytalopus schulenbergi, we document deep genetic divergence and plumage differences despite overall vocal similarity. We further propose that an extralimital taxon, Scytalopus opacus androsrictus, be elevated to species rank, based on a diagnostic vocal character. Our results demonstrate that basic exploration and descriptive work using diverse data sources continues to identify new species of birds, particularly in tropical environs.

Volunteers of the Empire (1855-1898) explores the history of the Volunteer units that existed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, and the Philippines during the second half of the 19th century. These units were closely associated with the continuity of Spanish sovereignty, and to understandings of the empire as an extension of the Spanish Nation. The Volunteers have traditionally been considered the private militia of the Spanish colonial elite, politically conservative, and made up almost exclusively of Spaniards from the metropolis, the so-called peninsulares. This thesis challenges this view and explores the history of the Volunteers in a new light. Principally drawing on unpublished documents consulted in Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico (encompassing military records, letters, and memoirs), this thesis explores four main aspects: the reasons that motivated the creation of the Volunteers, the participation of colonial societies, the Volunteers’ relationship with the Spanish authorities, and their social and political cohesion. In a major revision of the existing historiography, this thesis demonstrates that both "peninsulares" and creoles participated in the Volunteers. This heterogeneity meant that the Volunteers’ relationship with the Spanish authorities fluctuated between loyalty and confrontation depending on the challenges posed to the colonial statu quo by the colonial policy designed in Madrid. The Volunteers were also diverse in social (there were "peninsulares" and creoles, working-class, middle-class and affluent members), and political terms. Conservatives, liberals, republicans, and socialists filled their ranks. The cohesive principle of the Volunteers resided in adherence to the idea of the Spanish Nation’s unity, rather than in loyalty to the imperial authorities. This thesis argues that the Volunteers can be held to represent the ambivalent relationship between Nation and Empire, something which is still poorly understood in the Spanish case despite

The Peruvian Plantcutter, Phytotoma raimondii Taczanowski, 1883, is a restricted-range species endemic to coastal northern Peru. Historically its range is given from Tumbes in the extreme north-western Peru, south to the northern part of Lima Department. Although an increasing amount of information on the Peruvian Plantcutter exists, from historical records to new locations, it has remained dispersed, sometimes unverified, not systematized, and largely unpublished. A careful revision of museum collections as well as published and unpublished records results in a total of 53 sites where the species has been recorded and that represent the present knowledge of the distribution of the species., La cortarrama peruana, Phytotoma raimondii Taczanowski, 1883, es una especie endémica y de distribución restringida a la costa norte del Perú. Históricamente su rango ha sido considerado desde Tumbes en el extremo noroeste del Perú y hacia el sur hasta la parte norte del Departamento de Lima. Aunque existe mayor cantidad de información sobre la cortarrama peruana, entre registros históricos y localidades nuevas, esta información ha permanecido dispersa, a veces no verificada, no sistematizada y consecuentemente no publicada. Una revisión meticulosa de ejemplares de museos así como de registros publicados y no publicados da como resultado un total de 53 localidades donde la especie ha sido registrada y que representan el conocimiento actual de su distribución.