Alström, Per and Barnes, Keith N. and Barker, F. Keith and Olsson, Urban and Bloomer, Paulette and Khan, Aleem Ahmed and Qureshi, Masood Ahmed and Guillaumet, Alban and Crochet, Pierre-André and Ryan, Peter G.
(2013).
Multilocus phylogeny of the avian family Alaudidae (larks) reveals complex morphological evolution, non-monophyletic genera and hidden species diversity.
Molecular phylogenetics and evolution. 69
:3
, 1043-1056
[Journal article]
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Abstract
The Alaudidae (larks) is a large family of songbirds in the superfamily Sylvioidea. Larks are cosmopolitan, although species-level diversity is by far largest in Africa, followed by Eurasia, whereas Australasia and the New World have only one species each. The present study is the first comprehensive phylogeny of the Alaudidae. It includes 83.5% of all species and representatives from all recognised genera, and was based on two mitochondrial and three nuclear loci (in total 6.4 kbp, although not all loci were available for all species). In addition, a larger sample, comprising several subspecies of some polytypic species was analysed for one of the mitochondrial loci. There was generally good agreement in trees inferred from different loci, although some strongly supported incongruences were noted. The tree based on the concatenated multilocus data was overall well resolved and well supported by the data. We stress the importance of performing single gene as well as combined data analyses, as the latter may obscure significant incongruence behind strong nodal support values. The multilocus tree revealed many unpredicted relationships, including some non-monophyletic genera (Calandrella, Mirafra, Melanocorypha, Spizocorys). The tree based on the extended mitochondrial data set revealed several unexpected deep divergences between taxa presently treated as conspecific (e.g. within Ammomanes cinctura, Ammomanes deserti, Calandrella brachydactyla, Eremophila alpestris), as well as some shallow splits between currently recognised species (e.g. Certhilauda brevirostris-C semitorquata-C curvirostris; Calendulauda barlowi-C. erythrochlamys; Mirafra cantillans-M. javanica). Based on our results, we propose a revised generic classification, and comment on some species limits. We also comment on the extraordinary morphological adaptability in larks, which has resulted in numerous examples of parallel evolution (e.g. in Melanocorypha mongolica and Alauda leucoptera [both usually placed in Melanocorypha]; Ammomanopsis grayi and Ammomanes cinctura/deserti [former traditionally placed in Ammomanes]; Chersophilus duponti and Certhilauda spp.; Eremopterix hova [usually placed in Mirafra] and several Mirafra spp.), as well as both highly conserved plumages (e.g. within Mirafra) and strongly divergent lineages (e.g. Eremopterix hova vs. other Eremopterix spp.; Calandrella cinerea complex vs. Eremophila spp.; Eremalauda dunni vs. Chersophilus duponti; Melanocorypha mongolica and male M. yeltoniensis vs. other Melanocoupha spp. and female M. yeltoniensis). Sexual plumage dimorphism has evolved multiple times. Few groups of birds show the same level of disagreement between taxonomy based on morphology and phylogenetic relationships as inferred from DNA sequences. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors/Creators: | Alström, Per and Barnes, Keith N. and Barker, F. Keith and Olsson, Urban and Bloomer, Paulette and Khan, Aleem Ahmed and Qureshi, Masood Ahmed and Guillaumet, Alban and Crochet, Pierre-André and Ryan, Peter G. | ||||||
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Title: | Multilocus phylogeny of the avian family Alaudidae (larks) reveals complex morphological evolution, non-monophyletic genera and hidden species diversity | ||||||
Series/Journal: | Molecular phylogenetics and evolution (1095-9513) | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2013 | ||||||
Volume: | 69 | ||||||
Number: | 3 | ||||||
Page range: | 1043-1056 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 14 | ||||||
Publisher: | Elsevier | ||||||
ISSN: | 1095-9513 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Journal article | ||||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Accepted version | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Zoology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Genetics (medical genetics to be 30107 and agricultural genetics to be 40402) (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (methods development to be 10203) (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Biological Systematics (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Evolutionary Biology | ||||||
Keywords: | Phylogeny, Taxonomy, Morphological evolution, Nodal support | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-1982 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-1982 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 11222 | ||||||
Faculty: | NL - Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences (until 2013) | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Swedish Species Information Centre | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 30 Jun 2014 07:37 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 24 Mar 2015 05:54 |
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