Molecular Systematics and Historical Biogeography of the Rock-Thrushes (Muscicapidae: Monticola)

Abstract

The genus Monticola consists of 13 putative species with distributions throughout Eurasia and the sub-Saharan region of Africa. As such, this genus provides an excellent model with which to explore historical intercontinental movements and forces driving speciation in southern Africa. To address these questions, we reconstructed a hypothesis of species relationships using the mitochondrial ND2 and cytochrome-b genes. Monticola forms a well-supported, monophyletic clade within the avian family Muscicapidae. Our results support previous studies suggesting that the Malagasy genus Pseudocossyphus be subsumed into Monticola, and suggest that several of the Malagasy species (notably M. bensoni and M. erythronotus) are not valid. Sequence data, along with morphological and distributional evidence, support the elevation of M. pretoriae to species status. Historical biogeographic analyses suggest an area of origin for Monticola in the arid region of northern Africa plus Saudi Peninsula or the African savanna, or both. Determination of speciation timing suggests that Monticola arose ≈5.5 mya, with subsequent lineage splits occurring throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene. We propose that climate-driven ecological vicariance as well as dispersal were important in the biogeographic history of this group and are responsible for present-day species relationships and distributions.Systématique moléculaire et biogéographie historique des monticoles (Muscicapidae: Monticola)

A multi-gene phylogeny disentangles the chat-flycatcher complex (Aves: Muscicapidae)

“…Some species of Oenanthe and Saxicola occur also in Africa, while the majority of Monticola and Cercomela and all the remaining genera ( Campicoloides , Myrmecocichla , Pentholaea , Pinarochoa and Thamnolaea ) are African. The phylogenetic hypotheses for Monticola (Goodman & Weigt 2002; Outlaw et al. 2007; Zuccon & Ericson in press), Oenanthe (Aliabadian et al.…”

“…Although no comprehensive cladistic analysis for the family exists, several molecular studies addressed the relationships within selected genera: Erithacus (Seki 2006), Ficedula (Outlaw & Voelker 2006), Monticola and Pseudocossyphus (Goodman & Weigt 2002; Outlaw et al. 2007; Zuccon & Ericson in press), Oenanthe and Cercomela (Aliabadian et al.…”

Phylogeography and systematics of the Malagasy rock‐thrushes (Muscicapidae, Monticola)

“…A case in point are the rock‐thrushes of the Old World genus Monticola Boie, with the Malagasy members formerly positioned in the endemic genus Pseudocossyphus Sharpe (Ripley 1964), but based on molecular markers are appropriately placed in Monticola (Goodman & Weigt 2002; Outlaw et al. 2007).…”

“…sharpei (Gray, 1871), or a subspecies of M . sharpei (Goodman & Weigt 2002; Outlaw et al. 2007; IUCN 2010; Zuccon & Ericson 2010).…”

“…To date, the different published molecular genetic studies incorporating Malagasy Monticola had insufficient sampling from the island to resolve certain critical issues. Further, these projects focused on broader questions of species limits, biogeographic patterns and the phylogeny of the genus and its relationships to other members of the Muscicapidae and Turdinae (Goodman & Weigt 2002; Outlaw et al. 2007; Zuccon & Ericson 2010).…”