R. Terry Chesser

LINEAGE DIVERSIFICATION AND MORPHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION IN A LARGE-SCALE CONTINENTAL RADIATION: THE NEOTROPICAL OVENBIRDS AND WOODCREEPERS (AVES: FURNARIIDAE)

Patterns of diversification in species‐rich clades provide insight into the processes that generate biological diversity. We tested different models of lineage and phenotypic diversification in an exceptional continental radiation, the ovenbird family Furnariidae, using the most complete species‐level phylogenetic hypothesis produced to date for a major avian clade (97% of 293 species). We found that the Furnariidae exhibit nearly constant rates of lineage accumulation but show evidence of constrained morphological evolution. This pattern of sustained high rates of speciation despite limitations on phenotypic evolution contrasts with the results of most previous studies of evolutionary radiations, which have found a pattern of decelerating diversity‐dependent lineage accumulation coupled with decelerating or constrained phenotypic evolution. Our results suggest that lineage accumulation in tropical continental radiations may not be as limited by ecological opportunities as in temperate or island radiations. More studies examining patterns of both lineage and phenotypic diversification are needed to understand the often complex tempo and mode of evolutionary radiations on continents.

MODES OF SPECIATION IN BIRDS: A TEST OF LYNCH'S METHOD

The view that allopatric speciation is the predominant mode of speciation in animals seems firmly established (Mayr 1942, 1963). Mayr suggested that many species evolve via the establishment of small demes, often peripherally isolated, by dispersal of a few founders from the main body of the range. The view that dispersal is the primary means of achieving allopatry was seriously challenged by the school of vicariance biogeography (Platnick and Nelson 1978). Proponents of this approach suggest that vicariant events fragment ancestral populations and are just as important as, if not more important than, dispersal. Vicariant events are not necessarily expected to cause the isolation of small peripheral populations. Thus, dispersalist and vicariance biogeography predict different frequencies of geographic modes of speciation (Bush 1975), especially in regard to the prevalence of peripheral isolation. Cracraft (1982) studied the geography of speciation among Australian birds and concluded that speciation by vicariance was more common than peripheral isolation. Nevertheless, the frequency of geographic modes of allopatric speciation in birds is not well established. Lynch (1989) hypothesized that the frequency of vicariant, peripheral isolates, and sympatric speciation could be discovered by examining the relative range size and range overlap of sister taxa, either sister species or sister groups. Parapatric speciation, a third form of allopatric speciation (Bush 1975; Endler 1977), was not considered by Lynch because it appears to be phylogenetically indistinguishable from other forms of allopatric speciation (Wiley 1981; Cracraft 1982). In brief, Lynch (1989) suggested that if sister taxa are allopatric and occupy ranges of similar size, their speciation mode is most parsimoniously considered vicariance. If the range

Fifty-Second Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of North American Birds

The Auk, Vol. 128, Number 3, pages 600−613. ISSN 0004-8038, electronic ISSN 1938-4254.  2011 by The American Ornithologists’ Union. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals. com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/auk.2011.128.3.600 R. TeRRy ChesseR,1,12,13 RiChaRd C. Banks,1 F. keiTh BaRkeR,2 CaRla CiCeRo,3 Jon l. dunn,4 andRew w. kRaTTeR,5 iRBy J. loveTTe,6 Pamela C. Rasmussen,7 J. v. Remsen, JR.,8 James d. Rising,9 douglas F. sToTz,10 and kevin winkeR11

Multiple geographic origins of commensalism and complex dispersal history of black rats

The Black Rat (Rattus rattus) spread out of Asia to become one of the worlds worst agricultural and urban pests, and a reservoir or vector of numerous zoonotic diseases, including the devastating plague. Despite the global scale and inestimable cost of their impacts on both human livelihoods and natural ecosystems, little is known of the global genetic diversity of Black Rats, the timing and directions of their historical dispersals, and the risks associated with contemporary movements. We surveyed mitochondrial DNA of Black Rats collected across their global range as a first step towards obtaining an historical genetic perspective on this socioeconomically important group of rodents. We found a strong phylogeographic pattern with well-differentiated lineages of Black Rats native to South Asia, the Himalayan region, southern Indochina, and northern Indochina to East Asia, and a diversification that probably commenced in the early Middle Pleistocene. We also identified two other currently recognised species of Rattus as potential derivatives of a paraphyletic R. rattus. Three of the four phylogenetic lineage units within R. rattus show clear genetic signatures of major population expansion in prehistoric times, and the distribution of particular haplogroups mirrors archaeologically and historically documented patterns of human dispersal and trade. Commensalism clearly arose multiple times in R. rattus and in widely separated geographic regions, and this may account for apparent regionalism in their associated pathogens. Our findings represent an important step towards deeper understanding the complex and influential relationship that has developed between Black Rats and humans, and invite a thorough re-examination of host-pathogen associations among Black Rats.

Molecular Systematics of the Rhinocryptid Genus Pteroptochos

Relationships within the rhinocryptid genus Pteroptochos (huet-huets and turca) were investigated using complete sequences of the mitochondrial genes COII and ND3. Phylogenetic analysis of multiple individuals per taxon revealed that P. castaneus, P. tarnii, and P. megapodius constitute separate lineages, with P. castaneus and P. tarnii as sister taxa, and P. megapodius sister to these. Bootstrap support for these results was strong (79-100%). Sequence divergence between species was high, ranging from 6.1% between P. castaneus and P. tarnii to 7.6% between P. castaneus and P. megapodius. High genetic divergence between P. castaneus and P. tarnii is consistent with plumage and vocal differences between these taxa, and they appear to be separate species under both biological and phylogenetic species concepts. The BioBio River, a proposed dispersal barrier to P. tarnii, may be ineffective in limiting gene flow in this species, east of its confluence with the Laja River.

Migration in South America: an overview of the austral system

Austral migrants are species that breed in temperate areas of South America and migrate north, towards or into Amazonia, for the southern winter. Migrations among these species are the most extensive of Southern Hemisphere migrations, and the austral system represents a third major migration system, in the sense that the term has been applied to Northern Hemisphere temperate-tropical migration. The geography of South America greatly influences the austral system. Lack of east-west geographical barriers and the shape of the continent promote a pattern of partially overlapping breeding and wintering ranges. The suboscine family Tyrannidae, the tyrant-flycatchers, is the largest group of austral migrants, with other major families including Emberizidae, Anatidae, Furnariidae, Accipitridae and Hirundinidae. Tyrant-flycatchers constitute more than one-half of the passerine austral migrants and roughly one-third of total austral migrants, a taxonomic domination seen in no other global migration system. Parallels exist, however, between austral migration and the Nearctic and Palearctic systems. Many of the same families, including Hirundinidae, Anatidae and Charadriidae, exhibit similarly high degrees of migratory behavi-our in each system. Passerine migration in the austral system is similar in numbers to that of the Nearctic-Neotropical system, but species migrate shorter distances and breed in more open and scrubby habitats. Possible differences in year-round resource availability between South American and North American temperate forests, in addition to differing availability of these habitats, may contribute to the low numbers of forest-dwelling austral migrants.

Fifty-First Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds

The Auk, Vol. 127, Number 3, pages 726−744. ISSN 0004-8038, electronic ISSN 1938-4254.  2010 by The American Ornithologists’ Union. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals. com/reprintInfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/auk.2010.127.3.726. R. TeRRy ChesseR,1,12,13 RiChaRd C. Banks,1 F. keiTh BaRkeR,2 CaRla CiCeRo,3 Jon l. dunn,4 andRew w. kRaTTeR,5 iRBy J. loveTTe,6 Pamela C. Rasmussen,7 J. v. Remsen, JR.,8 James d. Rising,9 douglas F. sToTz,10 and kevin winkeR11

Phylogeny and phylogenetic classification of the antbirds, ovenbirds, woodcreepers, and allies (Aves: Passeriformes: infraorder Furnariides)

The infraorder Furnariides is a diverse group of suboscine passerine birds comprising a substantial component of the Neotropical avifauna. The included species encompass a broad array of morphologies and behaviours, making them appealing for evolutionary studies, but the size of the group (ca. 600 species) has limited well‐sampled higher‐level phylogenetic studies. Using DNA sequence data from the nuclear RAG‐1 and RAG‐2 exons, we undertook a phylogenetic analysis of the Furnariides sampling 124 (more than 88%) of the genera. Basal relationships among family‐level taxa differed depending on phylogenetic method, but all topologies had little nodal support, mirroring the results from earlier studies in which discerning relationships at the base of the radiation was also difficult. In contrast, branch support for family‐rank taxa and for many relationships within those clades was generally high. Our results support the Melanopareidae and Grallariidae as distinct from the Rhinocryptidae and Formicariidae, respectively. Within the Furnariides our data contradict some recent phylogenetic hypotheses and suggest that further study is needed to resolve these discrepancies. Of the few genera represented by multiple species, several were not monophyletic, indicating that additional systematic work remains within furnariine families and must include dense taxon sampling. We use this study as a basis for proposing a new phylogenetic classification for the group and in the process erect new family‐group names for clades having high branch support across methods.

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.

SYSTEMATICS, EVOLUTION, AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN OVENBIRD GENUS CINCLODES

Abstract Phylogenetic relationships within the genus Cinclodes, a group of South American furnariids, were studied using complete sequences of the mitochondrial genes COII and ND3. The 13 species of Cinclodes formed a monophyletic group consisting of three major lineages: (1) the southeastern Brazilian isolate C. pabsti, which was sister to the rest of the genus; (2) a clade of five primarily Patagonian or central Argentine highlands species; and (3) a clade of seven primarily north-central Andean or Pacific species. Biogeographic structure in the Patagonian-Andean taxa was consistent with the deep Patagonian and north-central Andean division previously noted in the similarly distributed genus Muscisaxicola. Evolutionary relationships among Cinclodes species were partially consistent with expectations based on plumage, behavior, and ecology. The phenotypically distinctive C. antarcticus was found to be sister to the widespread C. fuscus in the primarily Patagonian-Argentine clade, and the distinctive C. palliatus to be sister to C. atacamensis in the high Andean-Pacific clade. The central Argentine isolates C. comechingonus and C. olrogi formed a clade with C. oustaleti (olrogi sister to oustaleti, and comechingonus sister to those two) within the Patagonian-Argentine clade. The Pacific marine specialists C. nigrofumosus and C. taczanowskii were sisters within the Andean-Pacific clade and were distantly related to the southern maritime species C. antarcticus. Thus, marine ecological specialization apparently evolved twice within Cinclodes; behavioral and ecological data also support the nonhomology of the two character states. The two exclusively Pacific species were positionally apomorphic within the Andean-Pacific clade; ancestral area analysis indicated that the high Andes were the most likely area of origin for this clade, and that the Pacific coast was occupied secondarily.