Rapid, independent evolution of flightlessness in four species of Pacific Island rails (Rallidae): an analysis based on mitochondrial sequence data

Slikas, Beth; Olson, Storrs L.; Fleischer, Robert C.

doi:10.1034/j.1600-048x.2002.330103.x

Cited by 91 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Transitions to flightlessness are rapid and irreversible (13,14), with each instance involving the substantial reallocation of mass from the forelimbs to the hindlimbs and near elimination of costly flight muscles (15)(16)(17)(18). More than 1,000 independent lineages of island birds have lost flight, including rails, parrots, pigeons, owls, waterfowl, and passerines (13)(14)(15)(16). Although widespread, the evolution of island flightlessness requires extreme scarcity of predators and the ability to forage without flight (18)(19)(20).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictable evolution toward flightlessness in volant island birds

Wright

Steadman

Witt

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

139

137

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Birds are prolific colonists of islands, where they readily evolve distinct forms. Identifying predictable, directional patterns of evolutionary change in island birds, however, has proved challenging. The "island rule" predicts that island species evolve toward intermediate sizes, but its general applicability to birds is questionable. However, convergent evolution has clearly occurred in the island bird lineages that have undergone transitions to secondary flightlessness, a process involving drastic reduction of the flight muscles and enlargement of the hindlimbs. Here, we investigated whether volant island bird populations tend to change shape in a way that converges subtly on the flightless form. We found that island bird species have evolved smaller flight muscles than their continental relatives. Furthermore, in 366 populations of Caribbean and Pacific birds, smaller flight muscles and longer legs evolved in response to increasing insularity and, strikingly, the scarcity of avian and mammalian predators. On smaller islands with fewer predators, birds exhibited shifts in investment from forelimbs to hindlimbs that were qualitatively similar to anatomical rearrangements observed in flightless birds. These findings suggest that island bird populations tend to evolve on a trajectory toward flightlessness, even if most remain volant. This pattern was consistent across nine families and four orders that vary in lifestyle, foraging behavior, flight style, and body size. These predictable shifts in avian morphology may reduce the physical capacity for escape via flight and diminish the potential for small-island taxa to diversify via dispersal.B irds on islands helped to inspire the theory of evolution by natural selection (1, 2), and they continue to illuminate its mechanisms (e.g., ref.3). Some studies have reported that the bodies and bills of island birds systematically shift in size, reflecting evolution toward a generalist niche in species-poor communities (4-8). The tendency for island taxa to converge toward intermediate body size after colonizing islands is known as the island rule (4), but this ecogeographic rule has proven to be an inconsistent predictor of evolutionary trends in island bird populations (9-12). Detailed studies of island radiations have revealed idiosyncratic patterns of body size and bill size evolution among species, with morphological changes attributable to taxon-specific changes in foraging ecology (e.g., ref. 12). This inconsistency raises the question as to whether there are predictable evolutionary trends that apply generally to island birds.The most striking evolutionary trend among island birds is the loss of flight. Transitions to flightlessness are rapid and irreversible (13,14), with each instance involving the substantial reallocation of mass from the forelimbs to the hindlimbs and near elimination of costly flight muscles (15-18). More than 1,000 independent lineages of island birds have lost flight, including rails, parrots, pigeons, owls, waterfowl, and passerines (13-1...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictable evolution toward flightlessness in volant island birds

Wright

Steadman

Witt

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

139

137

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other taxa in the Hawaiian avifauna have shown rapid adaptation to the island ecosystem, such as geese and rails that evolved flightlessness (Paxinos et al, 2002;Slikas et al, 2002). Among Hawaiian raptorial species, the harrier Circus dossenus evolved a morphology that is more Accipiter-like, presumably reflecting a shift in its prey base from rodents to birds .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinct and extinct: Genetic differentiation of the Hawaiian eagle

Hailer

James

Olson

et al. 2015

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tEagles currently occur in the Hawaiian Islands only as vagrants, but Quaternary bones of Haliaeetus eagles have been found on three of the major islands. A previous study of a 3500-year-old skeleton from Maui found its mtDNA more similar to White-tailed (H. albicilla) than to Bald (H. leucocephalus) Eagles, but low intraspecific resolution of the markers and lack of comparative data from mainland populations precluded assessment of whether the individual was part of the diversity found in Eurasia, or whether it represented an endemic Hawaiian lineage. Using ancient DNA techniques, we sequenced part of the rapidly evolving mtDNA control region from the same specimen, and compared it to published range-wide control region data from White-tailed Eagles and newly generated sequences from Bald Eagles. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the Hawaiian eagle represents a distinct (>3% divergent) mtDNA lineage most closely related to those of extant White-tailed Eagles. Based on fossil calibration, we estimate that the Hawaiian mtDNA lineage diverged from mainland sequences around the Middle Pleistocene. Although not clearly differentiated morphologically from mainland forms, the Hawaiian eagle thus likely constituted an isolated, resident population in the Hawaiian archipelago for more than 100,000 years, where it was the largest terrestrial predator.

show abstract

“…Evolution of flightless distinct rails has at times been rapid (for example, Porzana atra on Henderson Island, which island has only been subaerial for about 380 kyr [Blake 1995], and other examples given by Slikas et al [2002]). Many of the Gallirallus-group species were thought to have been derived from a volant ancestor like Gallirallus philippensis, for example (Steadman 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The following species was flightless, thus precluding dispersal over hundreds of kilometers of ocean, so it is assumed to have evolved on Tubuai from a volant ancestor, as have many rails in Oceania (e.g., Slikas et al 2002, Steadman 2006, Kirchman and Steadman 2006a. It is thus unlikely to be conspecific with flightless rails elsewhere, so we have limited our comparisons mainly to the widespread volant G. philippensis.…”

Section: Order Gruiformesmentioning

confidence: 99%