Rallus wetmorei; Rallus longirostris sspp
[...] unpublished work (Sanchez, Kazandjian, Lentino, Marquez, Rodriguez-Ferraro: Taxonomic status of the plain-flanked rail (Rallus wetmorei).). I've not been able to find the work, so I presume it is still unpublished [...]
Sánchez, Kazandjian, Lentino, Rodríguez-Ferraro. 2013. Relaciones filogenéticas de la Polla de Wetmore (
Rallus wetmorei). P.37
in:
X. Congreso Venezolano de Ecología. Integrando saberes ante la crisis ambiental. Resúmenes. Ediciones IVIC.
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pdf]
La Polla de Wetmore (Rallus wetmorei) es un ave endémica de Venezuela, clasificada como «En Peligro» debido a su distribución restringida y a amenazas antropogénicas. Como parte de un proyecto para su conservación, se buscó evidencias filogenéticas para validar su estatus taxonómico, ya que éste se ha cuestionado desde su descripción en 1944, proponiéndose que puede tratarse de un morfo o subespecie de la otra especie de Rallus que ocurre en Venezuela, la Polla de Mangle (Rallus longirostris). Para evaluar las relaciones filogenéticas entre la Polla de Wetmore y las tres subespecies de Polla de Mangle que ocurren en Venezuela, se realizaron análisis filogenéticos con un gen mitocondrial (ND2) y uno nuclear (ADH5). En total se utilizaron 12 secuencias para el gen ND2 y 12 secuencias para el gen ADH5, incluyendo las secuencias de dos grupos externos. Los cuatro taxa formaron un grupo monofilético para ambos genes. Para el gen ADH5 el árbol filogenético resultó en una politomía. Sin embargo, para el gen ND2 se observaron dos grupos, uno que agrupa los taxa que ocurren en el oriente (R. l. dillonripleyi y R. l. margaritae) y otro los del occidente del país (R. l. phelpsi y R. wetmorei). Las distancias genéticas entre las Rallus estudiadas sugieren que todas pertenecen a la misma especie. Un análisis de caracteres morfológicos previo y las distancias genéticas encontradas sugieren que R. l. margaritae y R. l. dillonripleyi forman parte de una misma subespecie y que R. wetmorei y R. l. phelpsi son diferenciables sólo a nivel de subespecies.
(The Plain-flanked Rail (
Rallus wetmorei) is a bird endemic to Venezuela, classified as «Endangered» due to its restricted distribution and anthropogenic threats. As part of a project for its conservation, phylogenetic evidence was researched to validate its taxonomic status, as the latter has been questioned since its description in 1944, it being proposed that it can be treated as a morph or subspecies of the other species of
Rallus that occurs in Venezuela, the Mangrove Rail (
Rallus longirostris). To assess the phylogenetic relationships between the Plain-flanked Rail and the three subspecies of Mangrove Rail that occur in Venezuela, phylogenetic analyses were performed with a mitochondrial (ND2) and a nuclear gene (ADH5). In total, 12 sequences were used for the ND2 gene and 12 sequences for the ADH5 gene, including the sequences of two outgroups. The four taxa formed a monophyletic group for both genes. For the ADH5 gene the phylogenetic tree resulted in a polytomy. However, for the ND2 gene, two groups were observed, one that grouped the taxa occurring in the east (
R. l. dillonripleyi and
R. l. margaritae) and the other those of the west of the country (
R. l. phelpsi and
R. wetmorei). The genetic distances between the studied
Rallus suggest that they all belong to the same species. A previous analysis of morphological characters and the observed genetic distances suggest that
R. l. margaritae and
R. l. dillonripleyi form part of a same subspecies and that
R. wetmorei and
R. l. phelpsi are separable only at subspecies level.)
(This was presumably based on a part of the same data set, which was later deposited in GenBank; but is very unlikely to be the work that the deposition intended to support. There are more sequences than described here in GenBank [nd2: 14 sequences for the 4 taxa, no outgroup included, in GenBank; vs. 12 sequences, including those of two outgroups, in 2013], not to mention an additional author.)