Molecular systematics and evolution of the Cyanocorax jays

Abstract

Abstract. Phylogenetic relationships were studied in the genus Cyanocorax (Aves: Corvidae) and related genera, Psilorhinus and Calocitta, a diverse group of New World jays distributed from the southern United States south to Argentina. Although the ecology and behavior of some species in the group have been studied extensively, lack of a molecular phylogeny has precluded rigorous interpretations in an evolutionary framework. Given the diverse combinations of plumage coloration, size, and morphology, the taxonomy of the group has been inconsistent and understanding of biogeographic patterns problematic. Moreover, plumage similarity between two geographically disjuct species, the Tufted Jay (Cyanocorax dickeyi) from western Mexico and the White-tailed Jay (C. mystacalis) from western Ecuador and Peru, has puzzled ornithologists for decades. Here, a phylogeny of all species in the three genera is presented, based on study of two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes. Phylogenetic trees revealed the non-monophyly of Cyanocorax, and the division of the whole assemblage in two groups: "Clade A" containing Resumen. Se estudiaron las relaciones filogenéticas en los géneros Cyanocorax, Psilorhinus y Calocitta (Aves: Corvidae), un grupo diverso de urracas del Nuevo Mundo cuyas especies se distribuyen desde el sur de los Estados Unidos hasta Argentina. Aunque la ecología y el comportamiento de algunas especies en el grupo han sido estudiadas extensamente, la falta de una filogenia molecular ha impedido la interpretación rigurosa de estos estudios en un marco evolutivo. Dadas las diversas combinaciones de coloración de plumaje, tamaño y morfología presentes en las especies del grupo, su taxonomía ha sido inconsistente y la interpretación de sus patrones biogeográficos ha sido problemática. Mas aún, la similitud de plumaje en especies que están geográficamente distantes, como Cyanocorax dickeyi del oeste de Mexico y C. mystacalis del oeste de Ecuador y Perú, ha sido difícil de interpretar. Se presenta una filogenia para todas las especies en los tres géneros, basada en el estudio de dos genes nucleares y dos genes mitocondriales. Los árboles filogenéticos mostraron la parafilia de Cyanocorax y la división de todas las especies en dos grupos: "Clado A" en el cual se encuentran Psilorhinus morio, ambas especies Calocitta, Cyanocorax violaceus, C. caeruleus, C. cristatellus, y C. cyanomelas, y "Clado B" en el cual se encuentran el resto de las especies de Cyanocorax. Las relaciones entre especies del Clado A fueron ambiguas y, en general, poco resueltas. En el Clado B, los análisis mostraron la monofilia de las especies en "Cissilopha", pero no indicaron la monofilia de C. mystacalis + C. dickeyi. La complejidad filogenética de los linajes en el grupo sugiere varias complicaciones en el entendimiento de su biogeografía y taxonomía. Con base en los resultados filogenéticos se reconoce un solo género, Cyanocorax, con Psilorhinus y Calocitta como sinónimos.

Reconstructing the geographic origin of the New World jays

“…Frozen tissue samples (muscle tissue) were obtained from the American Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, National Taiwan Normal University and the University of Kansas Natural History Museum. We also added DNA sequences from GenBank from previous studies [1,11,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] that overlapped our sequenced gene regions.…”

“…Frozen tissue samples (muscle tissue) were obtained from the American Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, National Taiwan Normal University and the University of Kansas Natural History Museum. We also added DNA sequences from GenBank from previous studies [1,11,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]] that overlapped our sequenced gene regions.DNA sequences were obtained for three mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b, or Cytb; nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 2, or ND2; and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 3, or ND3), and three nuclear introns (the seventh intron of the beta-fibrinogen gene, or βfib7; the second intron of the myoglobin gene, or Myo2; and the fifth intron of the transforming growth factor β2, or TGFβ2). Genes were amplified using the following primers: Cytb, L14851 [35] DNA extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing, alignment and model selection DNA was extracted from frozen tissues using proteinase K digestion under manufacturer's protocols (Qiagen DNeasy tissue kit).…”

Using indicator groups to represent bird phylogenetic and functional diversity

“…From that tree we extracted the phylogenetic relationships for 656 bird species (38 to the level of genus). For the 198 absent species, we use different phylogenies to solve politomies within families and genera (when available): Accipitridae (Lerner and Mindell, 2005), Apodidae (Price et al, 2004), Cardinalidae (Klicka et al, 2007), Coerebidae (Klicka et al, 2007), Corvidae (Bonaccorso et al, 2010), Emberizidae (Klicka et al, 2000(Klicka et al, , 2007Lougheed et al, 2000;Lijtmaer et al, 2004;Campagna et al, 2009Campagna et al, , 2011Dávalos and Porzecanski, 2009), Hirundinidae (Sheldon et al, 2005), Mimidae (Lovette et al, 2011), Motacillidae (Voelker, 1999), Table 1 Number of species, sites required to represent all species of each indicator group in at least one grid cell, species richness represented by them in the Atlantic Forest Biodiversity Hotspot, and the percentage of functional (FD) and phylogenetic (PD) diversity captured by each indicator group. Parulidae (Lovette et al, 2010), Thraupidae (Burns, 1997(Burns, , 1998(Burns, , 2003Burns and Naoki, 2004;Klicka et al, 2007;Burns and Racicot, 2009), Trochilidae (McGuire et al, 2009), Turdidae (Nylander et al, 2008), and Vireonidae (Cicero and Johnson, 2001).…”

New phylogenetic information suggests both an increase and at least one loss of cooperative breeding during the evolutionary history of Aphelocoma jays

“…Breeding behavior of Aphelocoma jays New World jays are a lineage within the family Corvidae consisting of 5-7 genera distributed across much of the Americas (Madge and Burn 1994;Bonaccorso and Peterson 2007;Bonaccorso et al 2010). New World jays are characterized by highly complex social behaviors that are strikingly variable among species.…”