Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Tawny-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila hypoxantha) - HBW 16, p. 658

French: Sporophile à ventre fauve German: Ockerbrustpfäffchen Spanish: Semillero Ventricanela

Taxonomy: Sporophila hypoxantha Cabanis, 1851, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Molecular evidence suggests that genus is closely related to Oryzoborus, which should perhaps be subsumed within it; further, that both genera should be placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae). This species was at one time considered conspecific with S. minuta, but molecular data and vocal details suggest that the two are not very closely related. A molecular-genetic study of 17 species in genus, including ten in “capped” group (“capuchinos”), indicated that latter form two clades, a N clade largely N of R Amazon containing S. minuta and S. castaneiventris, and a S clade consisting of present species and S. bouvreuil, S. hypochroma, S. ruficollis, S. palustris, S. cinnamomea and S. melanogaster. Determination of relationships within the S clade not possible, as genetic differentiation very low and species are apparently part of a very recent and rapid radiation. Monotypic.

Distribution: N, W & E Bolivia (La Paz, E Beni and Santa Cruz), Paraguay, Brazil S of Amazon Basin (S Mato Grosso, Goiás and W Minas Gerais S to N Rio Grande do Sul), NW & NE Argentina (Salta S to N Tucumán and N Cordoba; Formosa and Misiones S to Santa Fe, Corrientes and Entre Ríos), and marginally W Uruguay.