Kendall W. Corbin

Genetic Polymorphism in New Guinea Starlings of the Genus Aplonis

of Hubby and Lewontin (1966) and Lewontin and Hubby (1966), there has been considerable interest in determining the percentage of the genome that may be either heterozygous in individuals or polymorphic in populations. Comparable data for natural populations of many species, both vertebrates and invertebrates being represented, are now available. However, the extent of protein polymorphism and individual heterozygosity in natural avian populations is known for relatively few species (Bush 1967; Sibley and Corbin 1970; Nottebohm and Selander 1972). Several other studies of protein polymorphism in bird populations have dealt with only a few loci (Stratil and Valenta 1966; Brush 1968, 1970; Bush et al. 1970; Ferguson 1971; Brush and Scott 1972). Most of the work on the specific variation of bird proteins involved domestic species. In this category, proteins found to be polymorphic include the serum esterases of the Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix) (Kaminski 1964; Manwell and Baker 1969), several species of pigeons (species of Columba and ALAN H. BRUSH

THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE FLAMINGOS AS INDICATED BY THE EGG-WHITE PROTEINS AND HEMOGLOBINS

The living species of flamingos form a small, easily defined group of three genera, Phoenicopterus, Phoeniconaius, and Phoenicopawus. Phoenicopterus is usually divided into three forms, considered to be species by some authors while others treat them as races of the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterw Tuber. These are P. T. Tuber of the New World tropics and subtropics, P. r. chilen&.s of temperate South America, and P. T. roseus (= antiquorum) of the Old World. The Lesser Flamingo; Phoeniconaius minor, occurs in Africa and India and Phoenicoparrus an&us and P. jamesi are confined to the Andes in Peru, Argentina, and Chile. These four (or six) living species are the survivors of a long and well-documented lineage extending at least to the early Tertiary and possibly into the Cretaceous. In spite of this unusually good fossil record the relationships of the flamingos to other groups of birds have been difficult to determine beyond doubt. A large body of evidence, mainly anatomical, suggests an alliance to the Ciconiiformes (herons, storks, ibises), but the bill and feet, development of the young, the voice, and the mallophagan parasites have been interpreted as indicating an origin from the Anseriformes ( ducks, geese). The question is, are the flamingos most closely related to the herons and storks and merely convergent to the anseriform birds in certain characters or were they derived from the ducks and geese and later converged toward the ciconiiform birds? A third possibility is that they were derived from some other group and are similar to both geese and herons only by convergence. In this paper we will review various opinions about the classification of the flamingos, the fossil history, and the anatomical, behavioral, and other evidence which has been presented. We will then present some new data from our studies of the egg-white proteins and hemoglobins of birds which bear upon this problem.

Genetic similarities between subspecies of the White-crowned Sparrow

Tissue samples from 121 birds representing two subspecies of the Whitecrowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, and their zone of intergradation, were obtained from a linear series of eight localities along the Pacific coast of California and Oregon. The region sampled included all of the range of Z. 1. nuttalli, and a portion of the range of Z. 1. pugetensis. Allozyme variation at 46 presumptive gene loci was examined by means of starch gel electrophoresis; 15 of these loci (32.6%) were polymorphic. Allelic frequencies of these loci are reported here; they are used in an analysis of Wrights F-statistics and to estimate gene flow and indices of genetic distance. The population genetic structure of at least one deme within the zone of intergradation differs from that of the two intergrading subspecies, but the subspecies themselves apparently are not genetically differentiated from one another. This conclusion is supported by several lines of evidence: allelic frequencies of the subspecies are not significantly different, as determined by estimates of genetic distance; the association between interlocality F,, values and geographic distances is not significant, as measured by the Mantel test; and a reconstruction of the evolutionary relationships based on the genetic distances of Nei, Rogers, and Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards groups localities representing the two subspecies together, but separate from localities within the zone of intergradation. All lines of evidence suggest high levels of gene flow between the subspecies.

Genetic differentiation among steamer-ducks (Anatidae: Tachyeres): an electrophoretic analysis

Electrophoretic and isoelectric focusing analyses of liver proteins of the steamer-ducks, Tachyeres patachonicus, T. pteneres, T. brachypterus, and T. leucocephalus, how these species to be distinct genetically, with the latter three species being more closely related to one another than any one of them is to T. patachonicus. There is also significant differentiation among populations of T. patachonicus. Estimates of the average calculated heterozygosity per species are high: 0.185, 0.160,O. 165, and 0.084, respectively, and observed heterozygosities are 0.115 I 0.090, 0.202 f 0.118, 0.201 i0.085, and 0.080 f 0.069, respectively. The genetic distances of Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards, Nei, and Rogers were estimated and used with a Wagner tree algorithm to prepare a consensus tree based on 1,000 subsets of allelic frequency data prepared by bootstrapping over loci. Estimates of F,, for comparisons among populations of T. patachonicus and estimates of Nm based on the distribution of private alleles indicate that gene flow between some pairs of populations is significantly reduced. Values of F,, are much higher than those prev-iously found for other pairs of avian populations. Genotypic distributions that deviate significantly from equilibrium expectations are found for several of the polymorphic loci of one or more species.

Ion-exchange column chromatography of desmosine and isodesmosine.

Abstract A modification of a standard amino acid analysis procedure is used for the resolution and quantification of the polyfunctional amino acids desmosine and isodesmosine. In addition to the long and short columns normally used during an amino acid analysis, a third column (60 cm resin height) packed with Beckman Custom Research Resin type PA-28 is used to resolve desmosine and isodesmosine. These two amino acids are eluted with a 0.2 N sodium citrate buffer, pH 5.28 ± 0.02.

Taxonomic Relationships of Some Columba Species

The taxonomic relationships within the pigeon genus Columba remain uncertain despite the considerable attention accorded this group of species. Ridgway (1916) placed 14 of the New World species in 10 genera to emphasize their morphological differences. Peters (1937) disagreed with these assignments, combined Ridgways genera, and placed 52 species in the genus Columba. Cumley and Irwin (1944), Irwin (1953), and Irwin and Miller (1961) studied the blood cell antigens of 11 species of Columba and concluded that each of the six

Catalase-like activity of chicken egg white: A reconsideration

Abstract Purified chicken ovalbumin was examined by gel filtration and starchgel electrophoresis. Samples were assayed spectrophotometrically for catalase prior to electrophoresis and chemically using the KI-H2O2 technique after electrophoresis. Electrophoretic preparations were also assayed for the presence of ferric ion. Catalase was not found, but catalase-like activity associated with ovalbumin was observed. This activity is presumably an artifact but is not due to the presence of ferric ion, which was restricted to the ovotransferrin region of the electrophoretic pattern.

In Memoriam: Charles Gald Sibley, 1917-1998

Charles Gald Sibley was born in Fresno, California, on 7 August 1917; he died at age 80 in Santa Rosa, California. He was no small town boy who simply moved upstate, however. Between his early years in Fresno and his ultimate move to Santa Rosa, Charles traveled the world to conduct and report on his research, and he rose to prominence in the scientific community. He became one of the leading ornithologists during the last half of the 20th century, was one of the founders and a major player in the emerging field of molecular systematics, and contributed significantly to our knowledge of the evolutionary relationships