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SummaryPhylogenetic relationships of the bustard genera Otis, Ardeotis, Afrotis, Chlarnydotis, Eupodotis, Lophotis, and Tetrax were inferred from nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1143 bp). Otis/Chlamydotis, Ardeotis/Eupodotis rueppellii, and Lophotis/Tetrax cluster as sibling taxa both in MP and ML reconstructions. The genus Eupoclotis appears to be polyphyletic. In the genus Chlamydotis two distinct groups are apparent, C. u. undulata/C, u. fuertaventurae and C. u. macqueenii. In the case of C.u. macqueenii birds from Sinai show a distinct haplotype. Because of substantial genetic, morphological and behavioural differences, it is suggested attributing species rank to C. undulata und C. macqueenii.

Populations of Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Long-billed Vulture (Gyps indicus) dramatically declined by 95-100% on the Indian subcontinent in mid-1990s. The present study was conducted to discover the phylogeny and phylogeography of Gyps species based on nuclear (recombination activating gene, RAG-1) and mitochondrial (cytochrome b, cytb) markers. Gyps species showed monophyly and no geographic partition was observed within the three groups of Gyps species (G. bengalensis, G. indicus and G. fulvus) despite the large sample size available (n = 149). Our study supports the treatment of G. indicus and G. tenuirostris as separate species. In all analyses, the earliest divergence separated G. bengalensis from all other Gyps taxa while a sister relationship was supported between G. fulvus and G. rueppellii, and these two taxa together were sister group to a clade consisting of G. indicus, G. tenuirostris and G. coprotheres. Molecular clock estimates of both nuclear and mitochondrial (RAG-1, cytb) genes indicated a rapid and recent diversification within the Gyps species.

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Several taxonomic characters, including the number of trunk myomeres, proportional body measurements and patterns of external and internal pigmentation, have been investigated in populations of ammocoetes belonging to the three species of lampreys found in British rivers. Petromyzon marinus can be readily distinguished by the pigmentary pattern in the tail and on the oral hood, and by the much higher number of trunk myomeres. Although no character can be used to separate with certainty the larvae of Lampetra fluviatilis and Lampetra planeri, significant differences were found between the mean number of trunk myomeres in the two species. Moreover, the values for ammocoetes were virtually identical to those of the respective post‐larval stages, at which phase in the life cycle the two Lampetra species are clearly distinguishable. The incidence of pigmentation on the tongue precursor was much higher in larval populations of L. fluviatilis than in those of L. planeri and there was also a difference in the rate of change in the relative length of the trunk and tail. Where comparisons can be made, the results in this paper are in agreement with those of most other European and North American workers. The data differ markedly, however, from that contained in the only other previous detailed systematic study on British larval lampreys, which was subsequently used as the basis for taxonomic keys.