title: Phylogeny of the tree swallow genus, Tachycineta (Aves: Hirundinidae), by Bayesian analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences.
abstract: To set the stage for historical analyses of the ecology and behavior of tree swallows and their allies (genus Tachycineta), we reconstructed the phylogeny of the nine Tachycineta species by comparing DNA sequences of six mitochondrial genes: Cytochrome b (990 base pairs), the second subunit of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (839 base pairs), cytochrome oxidase II (85 base pairs), ATPase 8 (158 base pairs), tRNA-lysine (73 base pairs), and tRNA-methionine (25 base pairs). The phylogeny consisted of two main clades: South and Central American species ((T. stolzmanni, T. albilinea, T. albiventris), (T. leucorrhoa, T. meyeni)), and North American and Caribbean species (T. bicolor, (T. thalassina, T. euchrysea, T. cyaneoviridis)). The genetic distances among the species suggested that Tachycineta is a relatively old group compared to other New World swallow genera. One interesting biogeographic discovery was the close relationship between Caribbean and western North American taxa. This historical connection occurs in other groups of swallows and swifts as well. To reconstruct the phylogeny, we employed Bayesian as well as traditional maximum-likelihood methods. The Bayesian approach provided probability values for trees produced from the different genes and gene combinations, as well as probabilities of branches within those trees. We compared Bayesian and maximum-likelihood bootstrap branch support and found that all branches with Bayesian probabilities > or = 95% received bootstrap support >70%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin---Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA.
authors.forename: Linda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Whittingham
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Slikas
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: Frederick H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Sheldon
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003573:Cytochrome b Group / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009245:NADH Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012357:RNA, Transfer, Lys / Q000235:genetics; D012358:RNA, Transfer, Met / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D020308:Songbirds / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D003573:Cytochrome b Group; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012357:RNA, Transfer, Lys; D012358:RNA, Transfer, Met; D004247:DNA; D009245:NADH Dehydrogenase; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases