Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Old World Suboscine Birds (Aves: Eurylaimides)

Abstract

Molecular and morphological data were used to derive a phylogenetic hypothesis for the Eurylaimides, an Old World bird group now known to be distributed pantropically, and to investigate the evolution and biogeography of the group. Phylogenetic results indicated that the Eurylaimides consist of two monophyletic groups, the pittas (Pittidae) and the broadbills (Eurylaimidae sensu lato), and that the broadbills consist of two highly divergent clades, one containing the sister genera Smithornis and Calyptomena, the other containing Pseudocalyptomena graueri, Sapayoa aenigma, the asity genera Philepitta and Neodrepanis, and five Asian genera. Our results indicate that over a ,10 million year time span in the early Tertiary, the Eurylaimides came to inhabit widely disjunct tropical regions and evolved disparate morphology, diet, and breeding behavior. Biogeographically, although a southern origin for the lineage is likely, time estimates for major lineage splitting do not correspond to Gondwanan vicariance events, and the biogeographic history of the crown clade is better explained by Laurasian climatic and geological processes. In particular, the timing and phylogenetic pattern suggest a likely Laurasian origin for the sole New World representative of the group, Sapayoa aenigma.

A Paleogene origin for crown passerines and the diversification of the Oscines in the New World

“…Due to space limitations passerine groups that were monophyletic in the tree (Fig. 1) The distributional patterns in Passeriformes demonstrate a well-known distinction between clades endemic to the New World and those restricted to the Old World (Barker et al, 2012;Moyle et al, 2006;Robinson et al, 2010). Hence, we plotted the entire final topology against those geographic distributions (Fig.…”

“…The Eurylaimides are currently less diverse than their New World counterparts but are well distributed in Africa, Madagascar, and Southeast Asia Moyle et al, 2006). In addition, paleontological records from the Miocene stratum of Bavaria (Germany) (Ballmann, 1969) and the Oligocene stratum of France (Mayr and Manegold, 2006) suggest an even greater geographic range throughout central Europe (Manegold et al, 2004;Mourer-Chauviré, 1995).…”

“…In addition, paleontological records from the Miocene stratum of Bavaria (Germany) (Ballmann, 1969) and the Oligocene stratum of France (Mayr and Manegold, 2006) suggest an even greater geographic range throughout central Europe (Manegold et al, 2004;Mourer-Chauviré, 1995). Given their extensive distribution, it is not surprising that hypotheses for the diversification of Eurylaimides remain highly controversial (Irestedt et al, 2006;Moyle et al, 2006;Prum, 1993).…”

“…The ancestral region of the Old World Suboscines is difficult to pinpoint based on the current distribution of any of the first three splits of Eurylaimides (Moyle at al., 2006;Irestedt et al, 2006; Fig. S1).…”

Mechanism of carotenoid coloration in the brightly colored plumages of broadbills (Eurylaimidae)

“…12). The evolutionary origins of the enzymes responsible for C4-oxygenation and ε-hydroxyl-dehydrogenation may have been in the common ancestor of Cymbirhynchus, Eurylaimus, and Sarcophanops (inferred from phylogenies in Irestedt et al 2006, Moyle et al 2006. Interestingly, this clade also includes Serilophus lunatus which entirely lacks carotenoid feather pigmentation.…”