Biogeography and evolutionary history of the Neotropical genus Saltator (Aves: Thraupini)

Abstract

Aim We reconstructed the biogeographical and evolutionary history of Saltator by producing a robust phylogenetic hypothesis that we used to evaluate the geographical origins of this genus, and assessed the potential influence of major Neotropical biogeographical features on the origin of lineages within this assemblage (i.e. phylogroups). Location Neotropics. Methods Our phylogenetic reconstruction is based on newly sequenced mitochondrial DNA data representing all known species of Saltator. This phylogenetic hypothesis was then used to define phylogenetic structure and to assess divergence times for these clades. Phylogroups were assigned to unique biogeographical regions allowing us (1) to perform ancestral biogeographical analyses (using rasp) to reconstruct ancestral areas for all nodes within our topology, and (2) to examine the geography of speciation and evolutionary history of Saltator. Results The novel phylogenetic relationships in Saltator showed that this tanager clade originated and diversified in South America in the mid‐Miocene (c. 13 Ma), ultimately yielding three distinct clades composed of a minimum of 26 phylogroups. A positive correlation was found between phylogenetic distance and co‐occurrence (percentage range overlap) for Saltator. Main conclusions Our evolutionary scenario for Saltator is consistent with a radiation initiated by uplift of the Andes during the last 10 million years. The biogeography of Saltator and the large number of phylogroups recovered suggest that an allopatric mode of speciation is the major driver in the evolutionary history of this group of tanagers.

Isolation with asymmetric gene flow during the nonsynchronous divergence of dry forest birds

“…1). One exception was Saltator striatipectus, which contains multiple phylogeographic lineages that are distributed in northern South America and Central America (Chaves et al 2013). The pairs were as follows, with the Marañ on Valley taxon presented first followed by the Tumbesian taxon: Thamnophilus bernardi shumbae -T. b. bernardi; Melanopareia maranonica -M. elegans; Campylorhynchus fasciatus fasciatus -C. f. pallescens; Mimus longicaudatus maranonicus -M. l. longicaudatus; Arremon abeillei nigriceps -A. a. abeillei; Saltator striatipectus peruvianus -S. s. immaculatus.…”

Spatiotemporal diversification of a low‐vagility Neotropical vertebrate clade (short‐tailed opossums, Didelphidae: Monodelphis)

“…The situation is notably improving for birds (e.g. Patané et al ., ; Ribas et al ., ; Patel et al ., ; Chaves et al ., ; Batalha‐Filho et al ., ), but studies of low‐vagility (small, nonvolant, stenotopic) organisms that might closely track biomes or other landscape units over time are still much to be desired. Small didelphid marsupials of the genus Monodelphis Burnett, 1830, are good candidates for such analyses.…”

“…In this context, comparing the evolutionary histories of multiple codistributed taxa may improve our understanding of how and when species originated (Chaves et al, 2013;Batalha-Filho et al, 2014). Molecular phylogenies of extant taxa provide an indirect record of speciation events, from which temporal patterns of lineage divergence can be reconstructed (Barraclough & Nee, 2001).…”

Fifty-Fifth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' UnionCheck-list of North American Birds

“…631-632. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences (Chaves et al 2013) has shown that the linear sequence of species in the genus Saltator does not accurately reflect their evolutionary relationships.…”

“…Under the heading Genus SALTATOR Vieillot, add the following to the end of the existing Notes: Linear sequence of species follows Chaves et al (2013). Notes.…”