THE NATIONAL RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AGENCY
Number :31 /SP/HM/BKPUK/III/2022
Cyornis kadayangensis (Kadayang Sikatan) and Zosterops Meratusensis (Kacamata Meratus) are two new bird species discovered recently in Southeast Kalimantan. The discovery began with research conducted since 2016. The effort to describe these species by the team from the Biosystematics and Evolutionary Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in collaboration with international partners was finally published in 2022.
Cibinong, 29 March 2022. ”The discovery of these two new species is a result of research collaborations with international research partners. Previously in 2020, we described a new species of birds from the same location,” said Dewi M. Prawiradilaga, a senior researcher at BRIN. Dewi is also the Principal Investigator in the collaboration between the Biosystematics and Evolution Research Center – BRIN (at that time called the Biological Research Center – LIPI) and Louisiana State University, USA.
Furthermore, Mohammad Irham, a researcher from the Zoologicum Bogoriense Museum of the Biosystematics and Evolution Research Center – BRIN explained that research on these new species of birds was carried out through a series of processes, including morphological, DNA, and vocalization studies of these species and their relatives. The results of this study indicate that the population of Zosterops and Cyornis in the Meratus Mountains are different from their relatives, so we consider them as separate and new species.
In terms of physical appearance, researcher from the Biosystematics and Evolution Research Center – BRIN, Tri Haryoko described that the Kacamata Meratus are olive green with a yellowish pattern on the lower body. “So that the two can be distinguished, the closest relative is the Kacamata Laut (Z. chloris) which has a lighter yellow color. While the Sikatan Kadayang has a more distinctive color, namely the upper body is blue and the lower part is light orange brown to white,” he explained. “Sikatan Kadayang is different from the Sikatan Dayak (C. montanus) with the latter has darker blue body and brownish in the lower part without white color,” added the researcher who was also involved in the research.