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White Wagtail (1 Viewer)

Richard Klim

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Li, Dong, Lei, Alström, Zhang, Ödeen, Fjeldså, Ericson, Zou & Yang (in press). Shaped by uneven Pleistocene climate: mitochondrial phylogeographic pattern and population history of White Wagtail Motacilla alba (Aves: Passeriformes). J Avian Biol. [abstract]

Approximately(?)...
  • Clade N: alba, 'dukhunensis', baicalensis, ocularis, lugens
  • Clade SE: personata, alboides, leucopsis
  • Clade SW: yarrellii, 'persica'
  • Clade M: subpersonata
Tyler 2004 (HBW 9).

CSNA (Sangster et al 1998) treats Motacilla alba as nine PSC species ('persica' not recognised)...
  • Motacilla alba - White Wagtail (incl 'dukhunensis')
  • Motacilla baicalensis - Baikal Wagtail
  • Motacilla ocularis - East Siberian Wagtail
  • Motacilla lugens - Black-backed Wagtail
  • Motacilla personata - Masked Wagtail
  • Motacilla alboides - Himalayan Wagtail
  • Motacilla leucopsis - Amur Wagtail
  • Motacilla yarrellii - Pied Wagtail
  • Motacilla subpersonata - Moroccan Wagtail
 
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Dong et al

Dong, Pan, Kang, Zhang, Sun & Qian (in press). Complete mitochondrial genome of Motacilla alba and implications for Motacillidae taxonomy. Mitochondr DNA. [abstract]
 
Li, X., Dong, F., Lei, F., Alström, P., Zhang, R., Ödeen, A., Fjeldså, J., Ericson, P.G.P., Zou F. & Yang, X. Shaped by uneven Pleistocene climate: mitochondrial phylogeographic pattern and population history of White Wagtail Motacilla alba (Aves: Passeriformes). In Press. Journal of Avian Biology.

Abstract:

We studied the phylogeography and population history of the White Wagtail Motacilla alba, which has a vast breeding range, covering areas with different Pleistocene climatic histories. The mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit II gene (ND2) and Control Region (CR) were analyzed for 273 individuals from 45 localities. Our data comprised all nine subspecies of White Wagtail. Four primary clades were inferred (M, N, SW and SE), with indications of M. grandis being nested within M. alba. The oldest split was between two haplotypes from the endemic Moroccan M. a. subpersonata (clade M) and the others, at 0.63–0.96 Mya; other divergences were at 0.31–0.38 Mya. The entire differentiation falls within the part of the Pleistocene characterized by Milankovitch cycles of large amplitudes and durations. Clade N was distributed across the northern Palearctic; clade SW in southwestern Asia plus the British Isles and was predicted by Ecological niche models (ENMs) to occur also in Central and South Europe; and clade SE was distributed in Central and East Asia. The deep divergence within M. a. subpersonata may reflect retention of ancestral haplotypes. Regional differences in historical climates have had different impacts on different populations: clade N expanded after the last glacial maximum (LGM), whereas milder Pleistocene climate of East Asia allowed clade SE a longer expansion time (since MIS 5); clade SW expanded over a similarly long time as clade SE, which is untypical for European species. ENMs supported these conclusions in that the northern part of the Eurasian continent was unsuitable during the LGM, whereas southern parts remained suitable. The recent divergences and poor structure in the mitochondrial tree contrasts strongly with the pronounced, well defined phenotypical differentiation, indicating extremely fast plumage divergence.
 
The recent divergences and poor structure in the mitochondrial tree contrasts strongly with the pronounced, well defined phenotypical differentiation, indicating extremely fast plumage divergence.

If I read this abstract correctly, the data could also indicate mitochondrial introgression or other mechanisms? When will we see the nuclear data?

Niels
 
sounds like the same thing going on in Juncos though...rapid phenotypic evolution without the underlying major molecular divergence
 
M.a.alba & M.a.personata

Semenov, Scordato, Khaydarov, Smith, Kane, Safran. [in press.] Effects of assortative mate choice on the genomic and morphological structure of a hybrid zone between two bird subspecies. Mol. Ecol.
[abstract & supp.info.]

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PS - Forthcoming:
Semenov, Koblik, Red'kin, Badyaev. Extensive phenotypic diversification coexists with little genetic divergence and a lack of population structure in the white wagtail subspecies complex (Motacilla alba). In resubmission.
 
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Semenov, Koblik, Red'kin, Badyaev. [in press] Extensive phenotypic diversification coexists with little genetic divergence and a lack of population structure in the White Wagtail subspecies complex (Motacilla alba). J. Evol. Biol.
[abstract & supp.info.]

Geographically clustered phenotypes often demonstrate consistent patterns in molecular markers, particularly mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) traditionally used in phylogeographic studies. However distinct evolutionary trajectories among traits and markers can lead to their discordance. First, geographic structure in phenotypic traits and nuclear molecular markers can be co‐aligned but inconsistent with mtDNA (mito‐nuclear discordance). Alternatively, phenotypic variation can have little to do with patterns in neither mtDNA nor nuclear markers. Disentangling between these distinct patterns can provide insight into the role of selection, demography and gene flow in population divergence. Here we examined a previously reported case of strong inconsistency between geographic structure in mtDNA and plumage traits in a widespread polytypic bird species, the White Wagtail (Motacilla alba). We tested whether this pattern is due to mito‐nuclear discordance or discrepancy between morphological evolution and both nuclear and mtDNA markers. We analyzed population differentiation and structure across six out of nine commonly recognized subspecies using 17 microsatellite loci and a combination of microsatellites and plumage indices in a comprehensively sampled region of a contact between two subspecies. We did not find support for the mito‐nuclear discordance hypothesis: nuclear markers indicated a subtle signal of genetic clustering only partially consistent with plumage groups, similar to previous findings that relied on mtDNA. We discuss evolutionary factors that could have shaped the intricate patterns of phenotypic diversification in the White wagtail and the role that repeated selection on plumage “hotspots” and hybridization may have played.
 
Semenov G.A., Basheva E.A., Borodin P.M. & Torgasheva A.A., in press. High rate of meiotic recombination and its implications for intricate speciation patterns in the White Wagtail (Motacilla alba). Biol. J. Linn. Soc.

There
 
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