Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Molecular species delimitation of larks (Aves : Alaudidae), and integrative taxonomy of the genus calandrella, with the description of a range-restricted african relic taxon

Stervander, Martin LU ; Hansson, Bengt LU orcid ; Olsson, Urban ; Hulme, Mark F. ; Ottosson, Ulf and Alström, Per (2020) In Diversity 12(11). p.1-28
Abstract

Larks constitute an avian family of exceptional cryptic diversity and striking examples of convergent evolution. Therefore, traditional morphology-based taxonomy has recurrently failed to reflect evolutionary relationships. While taxonomy ideally should integrate morphology, vocalizations, behaviour, ecology, and genetics, this can be challenging for groups that span several continents including areas that are difficult to access. Here, we combine morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA to evaluate the taxonomy of Calandrella larks, with particular focus on the African C. cinerea and the Asian C. acutirostris complexes. We describe a new range-restricted West African taxon, Calandrella cinerea rufipecta ssp. nov. (type locality: Jos,... (More)

Larks constitute an avian family of exceptional cryptic diversity and striking examples of convergent evolution. Therefore, traditional morphology-based taxonomy has recurrently failed to reflect evolutionary relationships. While taxonomy ideally should integrate morphology, vocalizations, behaviour, ecology, and genetics, this can be challenging for groups that span several continents including areas that are difficult to access. Here, we combine morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA to evaluate the taxonomy of Calandrella larks, with particular focus on the African C. cinerea and the Asian C. acutirostris complexes. We describe a new range-restricted West African taxon, Calandrella cinerea rufipecta ssp. nov. (type locality: Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria), with an isolated relic population 3000 km from its closest relative in the Rift Valley. We performed molecular species delimitation, employing coalescence-based multi-rate Poisson Tree Processes (mPTP) on cytochrome b sequences across 52 currently recognized lark species, including multiple taxa currently treated as subspecies. Three species-level splits were inferred within the genus Calandrella and another 13 across other genera, primarily among fragmented sub-Saharan taxa and taxa distributed from Northwest Africa to Arabia or East Africa. Previously unknown divergences date back as far as to the Miocene, indicating the presence of currently unrecognized species. However, we stress that taxonomic decisions should not be based on single datasets, such as mitochondrial DNA, although analyses of mitochondrial DNA can be a good indicator of taxa in need of further integrative taxonomic assessment.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cryptic species, Fragmented distribution, Morphology, Phylogeny, Sequence-based species delimitation
in
Diversity
volume
12
issue
11
article number
428
pages
28 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85096111240
ISSN
1424-2818
DOI
10.3390/d12110428
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
735c47f7-0838-4f83-bdd5-879e312279d4
date added to LUP
2020-11-27 10:39:43
date last changed
2022-07-06 03:33:39
@article{735c47f7-0838-4f83-bdd5-879e312279d4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Larks constitute an avian family of exceptional cryptic diversity and striking examples of convergent evolution. Therefore, traditional morphology-based taxonomy has recurrently failed to reflect evolutionary relationships. While taxonomy ideally should integrate morphology, vocalizations, behaviour, ecology, and genetics, this can be challenging for groups that span several continents including areas that are difficult to access. Here, we combine morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA to evaluate the taxonomy of Calandrella larks, with particular focus on the African C. cinerea and the Asian C. acutirostris complexes. We describe a new range-restricted West African taxon, Calandrella cinerea rufipecta ssp. nov. (type locality: Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria), with an isolated relic population 3000 km from its closest relative in the Rift Valley. We performed molecular species delimitation, employing coalescence-based multi-rate Poisson Tree Processes (mPTP) on cytochrome b sequences across 52 currently recognized lark species, including multiple taxa currently treated as subspecies. Three species-level splits were inferred within the genus Calandrella and another 13 across other genera, primarily among fragmented sub-Saharan taxa and taxa distributed from Northwest Africa to Arabia or East Africa. Previously unknown divergences date back as far as to the Miocene, indicating the presence of currently unrecognized species. However, we stress that taxonomic decisions should not be based on single datasets, such as mitochondrial DNA, although analyses of mitochondrial DNA can be a good indicator of taxa in need of further integrative taxonomic assessment.</p>}},
  author       = {{Stervander, Martin and Hansson, Bengt and Olsson, Urban and Hulme, Mark F. and Ottosson, Ulf and Alström, Per}},
  issn         = {{1424-2818}},
  keywords     = {{Cryptic species; Fragmented distribution; Morphology; Phylogeny; Sequence-based species delimitation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{1--28}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Diversity}},
  title        = {{Molecular species delimitation of larks (Aves : Alaudidae), and integrative taxonomy of the genus calandrella, with the description of a range-restricted african relic taxon}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d12110428}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/d12110428}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}