Genetic vs. morphological differentiation of Old World buzzards (genus Buteo, Accipitridae)

Abstract

phylogenetic investigation of Old World buzzards of the buteovulpinus complex and related taxa using morphological and genetic markers is presented. The morphometric analysis proved useful to discriminate taxa. Nevertheless, phylogenetic relationships cannot be resolved with these characters. Sequence comparisons between the control region and the pseudo-control region revealed that the latter is the most variable section of the mitochondrial genome. Consequently it was used as a marker sequence. In the genetic analysis, almost no sequence variability was found among taxa comprising the buteovulpinus complex as well as Buteo rufinus and Buteo oreophilus , suggesting gene flow and/or incomplete lineage sorting. Thus, rapid morphological differentiation in adaptation to different environments was not accompanied by genetic differentiation of the mitochondrial genomes of these taxa. In contrast, the East Palearctic taxa are well differentiated genetically. The 'superspecies' concept and taxonomic consequences of our results are discussed.

The Gray Hawk (Buteo Nitidus) is Two Species

“…Under these criteria, we believe species rank for B. n. nitidus and B. n. plagiatus is fully supported because (1) all age and sex classes are completely distinct on the basis of several discrete plumage features; (2) three of four age and sex classes are diagnosably distinct at the 90% probability level on the basis of DFA-derived canonical scores of group means, (3) the two taxa have diagnosably different alarm calls at the 99% probability level, on the basis of DFA-derived canonical scores of group means, and (4) there is evidence the taxa differ in mtDNA at a level comparable to that seen between other full species in the genus. The latter point may be of questionable significance given that the relationship between genotypic and phenotypic differentiation in birds in general (Winker 2009) and in the genus Buteo specifically (Kruckenhauser et al 2004) is unclear. However, the fact that B. n. nitidus and B. n. plagiatus appear to differ in both genotype and phenotype, and that the phenotypic differences are consistent and include a broad range of characters, supports a conclusion that the taxa warrant treatment as different species.…”

Repeated sequence homogenization between the control and pseudo‐control regions in the mitochondrial genomes of the subfamily Aquilinae

“…The CCR as a molecular marker for phylogenetic and population genetic studies was considered as extremely useful because of its high substitution rate (Väli, 2002;Riesing et al, 2003;Kruckenhauser et al, 2004). In the phylogenetic analyses of the genus Buteo (Riesing et al, 2003;Kruckenhauser et al, 2004), the results based on CCR sequences are in accordance with those from another mt marker sequence (nd6 gene) and the absence of intragenomic homology with the CR (as in the other members of Buteoninae) allows the conclusion that the CCR trees are based on orthologous sequence comparisons. In a CCR-based phylogenetic tree of five Aquila species presented by Väli (2002), only those sections were analyzed, which are present in all the investigated species.…”

Low mitochondrial DNA diversity in the endangered Bonelli’s Eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus) from SW Europe (Iberia) and NW Africa

“…However, it seems that results based on the CR must be taken with caution, since it has been demonstrated that the CR is not always the most variable region within the mitochondrial genome, at least in some avian species (Ruokonen and Kvist 2002). That is the case in buzzards Buteo spp., where a second highly variable non-coding region, designated the pseudocontrol region by Haring et al (1999), has been found to contain a greater genetic diversity than the CR (Kruckenhauser et al 2004). This region has also been found in other bird species (see Bensch and Hä rlid 2000;Eberhard et al 2001) and it has been successfully used in some molecular studies on raptors (Vä li 2002; Riesing et al 2003).…”