Coalescent analyses of multiple loci support a new route to speciation in birds.
A widely accepted paradigm is that sedentary Neotropical bird species are a reservoir that gives rise to temperate-tropical migratory species. Recently, an alternative theory has been proposed, that developmental plasticity can allow some individuals within a migratory species to establish a disjunct breeding range through loss of migration, thus facilitating the founding of a new sedentary species. We used mtDNA and two nuclear introns to perform coalescent analyses for two closely related New World oriole species, one a long-distance temperate-tropical migrant and the other a short-distance intratropical migrant. Our results suggest that the short-distance migrant recently diverged from the long-distance migrant via a founder event. In this species pair, the widely accepted paradigm is not supported. These results are consistent with a model of speciation through reduction of migratory distance.
Kondo
Beatrice
B
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA. bkondo@jhu.edu
Peters
Jeffrey L
JL
Rosensteel
Bryan B
BB
Omland
Kevin E
KE
D000483:Alleles; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D018703:Founder Effect; D051456:Gene Flow; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020308:Songbirds / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial