Sequence and phylogeny of the complete mitochondrial genome of the Himalayan jungle crow (Corvidae: Corvus macrorhynchos intermedius) from Pakistan

Abstract

Corvus macrorhynchos formerly referred to as the jungle crow or the large-billed crow is a polytypic species with unresolved taxonomy, comprising various subspecies widespread across South, Southeast, and East Asia. In this study, we report the complete mitogenome of one of these subspecies, Corvus macrorhynchos intermedius (Himalaya crow), from Pakistan. The mitochondrial genome is circular, 16,927 bp and contains typical animal mitochondrial genes (13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA, and 22 transfer RNA) and one non-coding region (D-loop) with a nucleotide content of A (30.6%), T (24.8%), G (14.8%), and C (29.8%). Phylogenetic analysis using the whole mitochondrial genome showed that C. m. intermedius and only reported subspecies Corvus macrorhynchos culminatus (Indian Jungle crow) are genetically distinct and it supports the recognition of the latter as a separate biospecies.

Corvidae in Pakistan are Represented by Two Distinct Clades Revealed through Maternally Inherited Gene Region

“…org). This analysis shows that C. splendens and C. corax have more association as compared to C. macrorhynchos irrespective of the fact that all belong to the same genus (Li et al, 2016;Huang et al, 2016;Johnsen, 2017;Iqbal et al, 2020).…”

“…Second main clade was comprised of Nucifraga and Pyrrhocorax genera in this phylogenetic analysis. The species of Pyrrhocorax genus (P. graculus, P. pyrrhocorax) were grouped in one clade showing close association among them than Nucifraga which was further split into another branch showing distinct relationship with them (Haring et al, 2012;Huang et al, 2016;Johnsen et al, 2017;Iqbal et al, 2020). N. caryocatactes (Northern nutcracker) is treated as conspecific with N. hemispila, and N. multipunctata and in Urals, its subspecies intergrades with C. macrorhynchos.…”

The genetic drivers for the successful invasive potential of a generalist bird, the House crow

“…The sister species Corvus. macrorhynchus intermedius (MN069302) was used as an outgroup (Iqbal et al 2020). The best-fit data partitioning scheme and substitution model were selected by Parti-tionFinder2 (Lanfear et al 2012).…”