Molecular phylogeny and insular biogeography of the lowland tailorbirds of Southeast Asia (Cisticolidae: Orthotomus)

A review of the recent advances in the systematics of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea

“…They also showed that Prinia burnesii is a babbler (Pellorneidae sensu Fregin et al, 2012), and reinstated the generic name Laticilla for this species. Sheldon et al (2012) reconstructed the phylogeny of all Orthotomus species based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. They revealed e.g.…”

Divergence history of the Rufous-tailed Tailorbird (Orthotomus sericeus) of Sundaland: Implications for the biogeography of Palawan and the taxonomy of island species in general

“…during the late Quaternary, when glacial events were most frequent and dramatic. We now know, however, that invasions of the Philippines by many Asian forest animals occurred much earlier than the late Pleistocene, and the route through Palawan was less important than previously believed (e.g., for birds: Lim et al 2010, Sheldon et al 2012, Gamauf and Haring 2004, Moyle et al 2007, Jones and Kennedy 2008, Sheldon et al 2009). The Sunda shelf, when exposed as land, does not simply transform into a wide expanse of rainforest through which forest animals can easily travel, but rather it seems to become a matrix of diverse habitats and montane and river barriers (Brandon-Jones 1998, Gathorne-Hardy et al 2002, Meijaard and van der Zon 2003, Gorog et al 2004, Cannon et al 2009, Wurster et al 2010, Slik et al 2011.…”

“…Two outgroup species were used in the phylogenetic analyses: Grey-backed Tailorbird (O. derbianus) of the Philippines and Ashy Tailorbird (O. ruficeps) from Borneo. These species are members of the clades closest to Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, but are still 9-11% divergent from it (Sheldon et al 2012). ND2 sequences of 21 specimens, including outgroups, were produced in previous studies (Nguembock et al 2007, Sheldon et al 2012; their GenBank numbers are listed in Table 2.…”

“…Most of its upland birds appear to have colonized from Sundaland within the last 5-8 Ma; fewer have colonized from the oceanic Philippines; none seems old enough to have ridden the island as an ark from mainland Asia (Lim et al 2010, Lohman et al 2010, Rahman et al 2010, Irestedt et al 2013. Among its Sunda colonizers, there appear to be 2 classes of genetic divergence (Table 1): the first representing earlier colonists, each of which is morphologically and genetically distinct from its sister taxon in Sundaland; and the second comprising more recent colonists displaying little morphological or genetic difference from their (Lim et al 2010, Lohman et al 2010, Rahman et al 2010, Sheldon et al 2012 (Figure 1). In the Philippines it is found only on islands that lie on the Sunda continental shelf, i.e.…”

“…However, subsequent molecular comparisons suggest this arrangement may be wrong. Mitochondrial ND2 sequence comparisons have indicated that the Palawan population is~1.9% divergent from the Bornean population (Sheldon et al 2012) and that the Borneo and western Sunda populations have recently and extensively intermixed .…”