Phylogenetic Position and Subspecies Divergence of the Endangered New Zealand Dotterel (Charadrius obscurus)

Abstract

The New Zealand Dotterel (Charadrius obscurus), an endangered shorebird of the family Charadriidae, is endemic to New Zealand where two subspecies are recognized. These subspecies are not only separated geographically, with C. o. aquilonius being distributed in the New Zealand North Island and C. o. obscurus mostly restricted to Stewart Island, but also differ substantially in morphology and behavior. Despite these divergent traits, previous work has failed to detect genetic differentiation between the subspecies, and the question of when and where the two populations separated is still open. Here, we use mitochondrial and nuclear markers to address molecular divergence between the subspecies, and apply maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods to place C. obscurus within the non-monophyletic genus Charadrius. Despite very little overall differentiation, distinct haplotypes for the subspecies were detected, thus supporting molecular separation of the northern and southern populations. Phylogenetic analysis recovers a monophyletic clade combining the New Zealand Dotterel with two other New Zealand endemic shorebirds, the Wrybill and the Double-Banded Plover, thus suggesting a single dispersal event as the origin of this group. Divergence dates within Charadriidae were estimated with BEAST 2, and our results indicate a Middle Miocene origin of New Zealand endemic Charadriidae, a Late Miocene emergence of the lineage leading to the New Zealand Dotterel, and a Middle to Late Pleistocene divergence of the two New Zealand Dotterel subspecies.

North or south? Phylogenetic and biogeographic origins of a globally distributed avian clade

“…Comparative analyses have made heavy use of existing phylogenies (Lislevand and Thomas, 2006;Székely et al, 2004a;Thomas et al, 2006aThomas et al, , 2006b) despite the relationships between many species not being fully resolved (Baker et al, 2012;Barth et al, 2013;Corl and Ellegren, 2013; Thomas et al, 2004).…”

“…The phylogenetic history of the genus is controversial and, to date, molecular analyses have been based on only partially complete species datasets. The most complete molecular Charadrius phylogeny in terms of included taxa (26 species) was based on partial nuclear and mtDNA sequence data and outlined two major species clusters (Barth et al, 2013). Barth et al (2013) controversially suggested the positioning of genera Vanellus, Phegornis, Anarhynchus, Thinornis and Elseyornis within the Charadrius clade, bringing into question the monophyly of the genus.…”

“…The most complete molecular Charadrius phylogeny in terms of included taxa (26 species) was based on partial nuclear and mtDNA sequence data and outlined two major species clusters (Barth et al, 2013). Barth et al (2013) controversially suggested the positioning of genera Vanellus, Phegornis, Anarhynchus, Thinornis and Elseyornis within the Charadrius clade, bringing into question the monophyly of the genus. This result was in contrast to traditional theories and phenotypic studies (Livezey, 2010), but supported earlier work based on allozymes and cyt b variation in a small number of species (four Charadrius species, Christian et al 1992; 10 Charadrius species, Joseph et al, 1999).…”

“…This result was in contrast to traditional theories and phenotypic studies (Livezey, 2010), but supported earlier work based on allozymes and cyt b variation in a small number of species (four Charadrius species, Christian et al 1992; 10 Charadrius species, Joseph et al, 1999). However, a limitation of the phylogeny presented by Barth et al (2013) was the incomplete sampling of molecular markers (66% of sequences missing; 70% missing characters). This can be problematic since phylogenetic analyses that rely on patchy datasets with large areas of missing data can lead to erroneous tree topologies (Lemmon, 2009;Roure et al, 2013) and therefore further analyses using more complete datasets are needed to more accurately establish the phylogenetic relationships within the genus.…”

Study on Phylogenetic Status of Javan Plover Bird (Charadrius, Charadriidae, Charadriiformes) through DNA Barcoding Analysis

“…alexandrinus closer to C. leschenaultii than with other species and is supported by bootstrap values of 99% in NJ and 96% in MP. C. melodus closer to C. semipalmatus supported by 99% bootstrap values in NJ and 96% in MP, and similar with Barth et al (2013), Dos Remedios et al (2015, Rheindt et al (2011). Both species are closer to C. dubius but only supported by 58% bootstrap values in NJ and 56% in MP.…”