title: Speciational history of North American Haemorhous finches (Aves: Fringillidae) inferred from multilocus data.
abstract: We investigated species relationships and timing of speciation in North American Haemorhous finches by using a mitochondrial phylogeographic approach combined with a multilocus species tree reconstruction. Haemorhous purpureus and H. cassinii were strongly supported as sister taxa, and H. mexicanus was sister to H. purpureus+H. cassinii. Our divergence times indicated that diversification within Haemorhous occurred progressively from the Late Miocene into the Pleistocene. Our inferred pattern of speciation demonstrates the complexity of the origins of North American birds, and provides additional evidence that a single cause for speciation in closely related North American birds, such as Late Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles, is unlikely.
authors.affiliation: Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4012, USA. briantilstonsmith@gmail.com
authors.forename: Brian Tilston
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Bryson
authors.forename: Vivien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Lia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Africa
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klicka
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D046369:Finches / Q000235:genetics*; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009656:North America; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial