DNA Analyses Have Revolutionized Studies on the Taxonomy and Evolution in Birds

Abstract

Whereas Linné aimed to classify all species of our planet by a unique binomial Latin name, later generations of taxonomists and systematicists intended to place the taxa in a natural system according to their phylogeny. This also happened in ornithology and still scientists are on the way to find the ultimate “Avian Tree of Life”. Formerly, systematic relationships were studied by comparing morphological characters. Since adaptive character evolution occurred frequently, convergences could lead to misleading conclusions. An alternative to morphological characters are biochemical markers, especially nucleotide sequences of marker genes or of complete genomes. They are less prone to convergent evolution. The use of DNA sequences of marker genes for bird systematics started around 1990. The introduction of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) facilitated the sequence analysis of large parts of bird genomes and to reconstruct the Avian Tree of Life. The genetic analyses allowed the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees and the detection of monophyletic clades, which should be the base for a phylogenetic classification. In consequence, several orders, families and genera of birds had to be rearranged. In addition, a number of species was split into several new species because DNA data could point out hidden lineages in cryptic species or in species complexes.