Molecular Phylogenetics of the Genus Piranga: Implications for Biogeography and the Evolution of Morphology and Behavior

Species in the genus Piranga vary in degree of sexual dimorphism, plumage coloration, morphology, song, migratory patterns, and geographic distribution. To study these aspects of Piranga biology in an evolutionary context, I constructed a phylogeny for this genus using cytochrome-b sequence data. Pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Auk 1998-07, Vol.115 (3), p.621-634
Main Author: Burns, Kevin J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aves
Biogeography
Biological and medical sciences
Biological evolution
Biological taxonomies
Bird songs
Birds
Evolution
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geographical distribution
Molecular biology
Ornithology
Parsimony
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Piranga
Piranga bidentata
Piranga erythrocephala
Piranga flava
Piranga leucoptera
Piranga ludoviciana
Piranga olivacea
Piranga roseogularis
Piranga rubra
Piranga rubriceps
Plumage
Taxa
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
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Summary:Species in the genus Piranga vary in degree of sexual dimorphism, plumage coloration, morphology, song, migratory patterns, and geographic distribution. To study these aspects of Piranga biology in an evolutionary context, I constructed a phylogeny for this genus using cytochrome-b sequence data. Parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses of DNA data reveal three possible phylogenies for species in this genus. All three trees identify a clade containing P. rubriceps, P. leucoptera, and P. erythrocephala and a clade containing P. rubra, P. ludoviciana, P. olivacea, P. bidentata, and P. flava. The trees differ in the placement of P. roseogularis. Morphology, song, and plumage data did not agree with these phylogenies. Levels of sequence divergence and the phylogeny of haplotypes are consistent with the idea that P. flava as currently described contains more than one evolutionary unit. Mapping the evolution of seasonal migration onto the DNA trees indicates that migration evolved once within Piranga.
ISSN:0004-8038
1938-4254
2732-4613
DOI:10.2307/4089411