Masaki Eda

Genetic characteristics of the Black-footed Albatross Diomedea nigripes on the Bonin Islands and their implications for the species' demographic history and population structure

Abstract The Black-footed Albatross Diomedea nigripes is an endangered seabird that is endemic to the North Pacific. The genetic structure of Black-footed Albatross populations on three of the Hawaiian Islands and on Izu-Torishima Island, Japan, has been studied previously, using the mitochondrial cytochrome b region. Hawaiian and Japanese breeding groups are genetically different, and the genetic diversity of the birds on Izu-Torishima is lower than that of birds in the Hawaiian Islands. We analyzed 50 Black-footed Albatrosses from the Bonin Islands, where a relatively stable population persisted throughout the twentieth century. Although albatrosses in the Bonin Islands do not differ significantly from those on Izu-Torishima in their cytochrome b region sequences, they do exhibit higher genetic diversity (as high as those from the Hawaiian colonies). A statistical parsimony network revealed two clades, one primarily in the western North Pacific colonies and the other primarily in eastern North Pacific colonies. The total network appears as a dumbbell-shaped phylogeny, suggesting recent population expansion in both populations, although the population breeding in the western North Pacific is only about 5% of the size of that in the eastern North Pacific. Our results suggest that Black-footed Albatrosses in the Bonin and the Hawaiian Islands differ genetically but are comparable natural biological units for conservation and management purposes.

Bryan's Shearwaters Have Survived on the Bonin Islands, Northwestern Pacific

Abstract. Bryans Shearwater (Puffinus bryani) was described in 2011 on the basis of a specimen collected on the Midway Atoll in 1963. This specimen and another recorded on Midway in the early 1990s are the sole reliable records to date. Since 1997, we have found six specimens of a remarkably small Puffinus shearwater morphologically similar to Bryans Shearwater on the Bonin Islands, northwestern Pacific. In this study, we examined the Bonin samples genetically and confirm that they are of Bryans Shearwater. A morphological analysis suggests that the small body size and relatively long tail are characteristics of this species. Because the most recent individual was found on an islet to the north of Chichijima Island in 2011, the species has evidently survived in the Bonin Islands, where it may breed, although the exact location remains unclear. Three of the individuals found on an islet off Chichijima Island were carcasses preyed upon by black rats (Rattus rattus). Attempts were made to eradicate rats from this island in 2008, and rats may pose a problem on other islands where the shearwaters may breed. Regardless, Bryans Shearwater appears to be very rare and threatened on the Bonin Islands. To conserve this species effectively, its breeding sites must be identified and the infesting rats eradicated.

Reexamination of the domestic chicken in ancient China

Abstract Through the re-analyses to the chicken bones unearthed from some archaeological sites and the trimming of the related researches, this paper pointed out that the past recognitions of the domestic chickens in ancient China were mostly questionable. Referring to the new research results and the new development in the verification methods of the ring-necked pheasant and chicken in recent years, as well as the verification of the chicken bones unearthed from the Shenmingpu Site in Xichuan County, Henan, this paper announced the importance of differentiating ring-necked pheasant and chicken from multiple skeletal parts based on the characteristics in the sense of skeletal morphology. Moreover, this paper emphasized that only with this as the foundation, the criteria for distinguishing the morphological characteristics of red jungle-fowl and domestic chicken can be established and the issue of the origin of the domestic chickens in China can be accurately and comprehensively discussed.

Phylogenetic Relationship of the Greater White-Fronted Goose Anser albifrons Subspecies Wintering in the Palaearctic Region

Abstract Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons has a holarctic breeding distribution and is polymorphic. Three subspecies winter in the Palaearctic region, one of which also winters in the Nearctic region: European White-fronted Goose A. a. albifrons breeds in the far north of Europe and Asia and winters in the south and west of Europe; Pacific White-fronted Goose A. a. frontalis breeds in east Siberia and Arctic Canada and winters in East Asia and United States; and Greenland White-fronted Goose A. a. flavirostris breeds in Greenland and winters in Ireland and western Scotland. The phylogenetic relationships among these three subspecies are unclear. We determined the mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of Pacific Whitefronted Goose, using 66 shed feathers collected from wintering sites in Japan, and compared the sequences with those previously published for Greater White-fronted Goose subspecies. Phylogenetic trees and networks revealed that there are three clades within the species. The sequence divergence among the clades corresponds to divergence long before the last glacial maximum (15–25 thousand years ago), which suggests the existence of at least three ancient refugia for the species. However, all three subspecies consist of haplotypes from two of the three clades. This suggests that they originated from individuals that survived in two refugia during the last glacial period.

Phylogenetic Position of Endangered Puffinus lherminieri bannermani

Abstract Puffinus lherminieri bannermani is a small black-and-white shearwater, which is endemic to the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. The taxonomic position of this shearwater is contentious. It is treated as a subspecies of Audubons Shearwater P. lherminieri or the Tropical Shearwater P. bailloni in some checklists, while it is as considered monotypic, as Bannermans Shearwater P. bannermani, in others. We examined the mitochondrial cytochrome b region to determine the taxons phylogenetic position. While on the one hand the results showed that it was not genetically related to either P. lherminieri or P. bailloni, but formed a clade with P. myrtae, P. newelli, and P. auricularis, on the other hand, bannermani has diverged substantially from the other three taxa in both genetic and morphological features. This shearwater was first described as Bannermans Shearwater, and our results confirm that P. lherminieri bannermani should be split from Audubons Shearwater, and the monotypic Bannermans Shearwater is recommended to be restored as a distinct species.