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Butcherbirds (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Daniel Philippe
- Start date
Markus Lagerqvist
Well-known member
At least you get some clues from the abstract |=)|:
- Australian and New Guinean lineages of C. quoyi should be raised to species-level
- Recently diverged members of the white-throated butcherbird species-group warrant species-level recognition despite widespread sharing of nuclear alleles and mtDNA paraphyly
- Morphologically differentiated Australian Magpie C. tibicen is a member of Cracticus
- Species-boundaries within Peltops warrant a comprehensive molecular and morphological revision.
Daniel Philippe
Well-known member
Peter Kovalik
Well-known member
Peter Kovalik
Well-known member
TiF Update August 4:
The Black-backed Butcherbird, Cracticus mentalis, and Silver-backed Butcherbird, Cracticus argenteus, have been resplit from Gray Butcherbird, Cracticus torquatus, based on Kearns et al. (2014).
albertonykus
Well-known member
Kearns, A.M., H. Johnston, J. Fenker, J. Nicholls, C. Yang, A. Zwick, B. Iova, I.J. Mason, A. Drew, and L. Joseph (2025)
Genomic footprints of ancient multi-species introgression events among allopatric Australo-Papuan butcherbird species
Journal of Biogeography (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1111/jbi.15141
Aim
Climate change has influenced the evolution of the world's biota, shaping species distributions, promoting diversification and causing extinctions. The turbulent climatic oscillations of the Pleistocene, which caused repeated periods of isolation and secondary contact, have left lasting signatures on the genomes of species across the world. The resultant reticulate histories are difficult to untangle, yet offer unique insights, capturing responses to climate change that would otherwise be undetected and providing empirical case-studies of the impact of introgression tens of thousands of years later. Here, we explore such dynamics using three currently allopatric species of Australian butcherbirds. We specifically test long-standing biogeographic hypotheses concerning the role of intermittent Pleistocene land-bridges and climatic oscillations in facilitating secondary contact.
Location
Australia and New Guinea.
Taxon
Silver-backed Butcherbird Cracticus argenteus, Black-backed Butcherbird Cracticus mentalis and Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus (Passeriformes: Artamidae).
Methods
We generated genomic data from museum specimens to infer species relationships, test taxonomic boundaries and elucidate the history of gene flow in this species complex.
Results
We uncovered genomic evidence of multiple ancient introgressions into savannah-adapted C. argenteus from both savannah-adapted C. mentalis and more arid-tolerant C. torquatus despite their current allopatry. This supports biogeographic hypotheses concerning both the role of the Arafura Shelf in maintaining genetic connectivity between savannah-adapted species in Australia and New Guinea and the expansion of aridity during glacial maxima in promoting range expansions in arid-tolerant species.
Main Conclusions
Our data showcase how genomic signatures retained over generations can reveal unexpected insights about evolutionary history, as well as expand our understanding of how guilds of similarly adapted species may have responded concordantly to paleoclimate change. These insights have important implications for biodiversity conservation, increasing our understanding of how secondary contact driven by climate change might impact species in the future.
Genomic footprints of ancient multi-species introgression events among allopatric Australo-Papuan butcherbird species
Journal of Biogeography (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1111/jbi.15141
Aim
Climate change has influenced the evolution of the world's biota, shaping species distributions, promoting diversification and causing extinctions. The turbulent climatic oscillations of the Pleistocene, which caused repeated periods of isolation and secondary contact, have left lasting signatures on the genomes of species across the world. The resultant reticulate histories are difficult to untangle, yet offer unique insights, capturing responses to climate change that would otherwise be undetected and providing empirical case-studies of the impact of introgression tens of thousands of years later. Here, we explore such dynamics using three currently allopatric species of Australian butcherbirds. We specifically test long-standing biogeographic hypotheses concerning the role of intermittent Pleistocene land-bridges and climatic oscillations in facilitating secondary contact.
Location
Australia and New Guinea.
Taxon
Silver-backed Butcherbird Cracticus argenteus, Black-backed Butcherbird Cracticus mentalis and Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus (Passeriformes: Artamidae).
Methods
We generated genomic data from museum specimens to infer species relationships, test taxonomic boundaries and elucidate the history of gene flow in this species complex.
Results
We uncovered genomic evidence of multiple ancient introgressions into savannah-adapted C. argenteus from both savannah-adapted C. mentalis and more arid-tolerant C. torquatus despite their current allopatry. This supports biogeographic hypotheses concerning both the role of the Arafura Shelf in maintaining genetic connectivity between savannah-adapted species in Australia and New Guinea and the expansion of aridity during glacial maxima in promoting range expansions in arid-tolerant species.
Main Conclusions
Our data showcase how genomic signatures retained over generations can reveal unexpected insights about evolutionary history, as well as expand our understanding of how guilds of similarly adapted species may have responded concordantly to paleoclimate change. These insights have important implications for biodiversity conservation, increasing our understanding of how secondary contact driven by climate change might impact species in the future.
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