title: Phylogeny of Passerida (Aves: Passeriformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data.
abstract: Passerida is a monophyletic group of oscine passerines that includes almost 3500 species (about 36%) of all bird species in the world. The current understanding of higher-level relationships within Passerida is based on DNA-DNA hybridizations [C.G. Sibley, J.E. Ahlquist, Phylogeny and Classification of Birds, 1990, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT]. Our results are based on analyses of 3130 aligned nucleotide sequence data obtained from 48 ingroup and 13 outgroup genera. Three nuclear genes were sequenced: c-myc (498-510 bp), RAG-1 (930 bp), and myoglobin (693-722 bp), as well one mitochondrial gene; cytochrome b (879 bp). The data were analysed by parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian inference. The African rockfowl and rockjumper are found to constitute the deepest branch within Passerida, but relationships among the other taxa are poorly resolved--only four major clades receive statistical support. One clade corresponds to Passeroidea of [C.G. Sibley, B.L. Monroe, Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World, 1990, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT] and includes, e.g., flowerpeckers, sunbirds, accentors, weavers, estrilds, wagtails, finches, and sparrows. Starlings, mockingbirds, thrushes, Old World flycatchers, and dippers also group together in a clade corresponding to Muscicapoidea of Sibley and Monroe [op. cit.]. Monophyly of their Sylvioidea could not be corroborated--these taxa falls either into a clade with wrens, gnatcatchers, and nuthatches, or one with, e.g., warblers, bulbuls, babblers, and white-eyes. The tits, penduline tits, and waxwings belong to Passerida but have no close relatives among the taxa studied herein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Frescativagen 44, P.O. Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden. per.ericson@nrm.se
authors.forename: Per G P
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Ericson
authors.forename: Ulf S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Johansson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016654:Genes, RAG-1; D016259:Genes, myc; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020308:Songbirds / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D009211:Myoglobin; D004247:DNA; D045303:Cytochromes b