Convergent evolution of morphological and ecological traits in the open-habitat chat complex (Aves, Muscicapidae: Saxicolinae).
Open-habitat chats (genera Myrmecocichla, Cercomela, Oenanthe and relative) are a morphologically and ecologically cohesive group of genera with unclear phylogenetic relationships. They are distributed mostly in open, arid and/or rocky habitats of Africa and Eurasia. Here, we present the most comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of this group to date, with a complete taxon sampling at the species level. The analysis, based on a multilocus dataset including three mitochondrial and three nuclear loci, allows us to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships and test the traditional generic limits. All genera are non-monophyletic, suggesting extensive convergence on similar plumage patterns in unrelated species. While the colour pattern appear to be a poor predictor of the phylogenetic relationships, some of the ecological and behavioural traits agree relatively well with the major clades. Following our results, we also propose a revised generic classification for the whole group.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. m.aliabadian@uva.nl
Mansour
M
Aliabadian
Mohammad
M
Kaboli
Marc I
MI
Förschler
Vincent
V
Nijman
Atefeh
A
Chamani
Annie
A
Tillier
Roger
R
Prodon
Eric
E
Pasquet
Per G P
PG
Ericson
Dario
D
Zuccon
D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004463:Ecology; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D046109:Passeriformes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial