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Strisores (1 Viewer)

Total-Evidence Framework Reveals Complex Morphological Evolution in Nightbirds (Strisores)
by Albert Chen , Noor D. White, Roger B.J. Benson, Michael J. Braun and Daniel J. Field

Abstract
Strisores is a clade of neoavian birds that include diurnal aerial specialists such as swifts and hummingbirds, as well as several predominantly nocturnal lineages such as nightjars and potoos. Despite the use of genome-scale molecular datasets, the phylogenetic interrelationships among major strisorean groups remain controversial. Given the availability of next-generation sequence data for Strisores and the clade’s rich fossil record, we reassessed the phylogeny of Strisores by incorporating a large-scale sequence dataset with anatomical data from living and fossil strisoreans within a Bayesian total-evidence framework. Combined analyses of molecular and morphological data resulted in a phylogenetic topology for Strisores that is congruent with the findings of two recent molecular phylogenomic studies, supporting nightjars (Caprimulgidae) as the extant sister group of the remainder of Strisores. This total-evidence framework allowed us to identify morphological synapomorphies for strisorean clades previously recovered using molecular-only datasets. However, a combined analysis of molecular and morphological data highlighted strong signal conflict between sequence and anatomical data in Strisores. Furthermore, simultaneous analysis of molecular and morphological data recovered differing placements for some fossil taxa compared with analyses of morphological data under a molecular scaffold, highlighting the importance of analytical decisions when conducting morphological phylogenetic analyses of taxa with molecular phylogenetic data. We suggest that multiple strisorean lineages have experienced convergent evolution across the skeleton, obfuscating the phylogenetic position of certain fossils, and that many distinctive specializations of strisorean subclades were acquired early in their evolutionary history. Despite this apparent complexity in the evolutionary history of Strisores, our results provide fossil support for aerial foraging as the ancestral ecological strategy of Strisores, as implied by recent phylogenetic topologies derived from molecular data
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Diversity. 11(9); 143. DOI: 10.3390/d11090143

albertonykus.blogspot.com/2019/08/shining-light-on-nightbird-evolution-my.html
twitter.com/albertonykus/status/1167363784660242438
twitter.com/albertonykus/status/1167875670615085057
 
Peter Kovalik said:
White ND, Braun MJ. Extracting Phylogenetic Signal from Phylogenomic Data: Higher-Level Relationships of the Nightbirds (Strisores). Submitted, under review.
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Noor D.White & Michael J.Braun. Extracting Phylogenetic Signal from Phylogenomic Data: Higher-Level Relationships of the Nightbirds (Strisores). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Available online 11 September 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106611

Abstract:

A well-resolved phylogeny would facilitate study of adaptation to nocturnality in the avian superorder Strisores, a group that includes both nocturnal and diurnal lineages. Based on previous estimates, it could be hypothesized that there were multiple independent origins of nocturnality in this group. In order to refine the Strisores phylogeny, we generated genome-scale datasets of 2,289 – 4,243 ultra-conserved elements for 23 taxa representing all major living lineages in the group. Among the considerations for using genome-scale, molecular sequence data in phylogenomic analysis are issues related to GC content, GC variance and their effects on model selection. In this study, we employed a variety of analytical techniques to empirically investigate those issues in our data, as well as biases and errors resulting from alignment trimming, taxon selection, matrix completeness and evolutionary rate variation among sites and across lineages. Extensive analyses revealed conflict within the data, especially in regard to variation in GC content, that would not have been detected with more cursory study. Our results indicate that readily available models of molecular evolution are insufficient to encapsulate all phenomena present in genome-scale matrices, and that this problem may be at the root of many current issues in phylogenomic analysis. The analytical methods employed in this study are relevant to phylogenomic analysis of any large, heterogeneous matrix. In conclusion, we present a strongly supported estimate of the Strisores tree, and discuss visual adaptations for and potential evolutionary pathways to nocturnality in this clade.
 
George Sangster, Ben F King, Martin Irestedt, Per G P Ericson, Integrative taxonomy of eared nightjars (Aves: Lyncornis) underscores the complementarity of morphology, vocalizations and DNA evidence, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2022;, zlac037

academic.oup.com

Integrative taxonomy of eared nightjars (Aves: Lyncornis) underscores the complementarity of morphology, vocalizations and DNA evidence

Abstract. The eared nightjars (Lyncornis, formerly Eurostopodus) comprise six taxa distributed from southern India and Southeast Asia to Sulawesi. Species limit
academic.oup.com academic.oup.com

Abstract

The eared nightjars (Lyncornis, formerly Eurostopodus) comprise six taxa distributed from southern India and Southeast Asia to Sulawesi. Species limits in this group have not been evaluated since 1940. In this study, we use three datasets (morphology, acoustics and mitochondrial DNA) to assess the taxonomic status of taxa in this genus. Multivariate analyses of vocalizations and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA both revealed the presence of four major groups. Morphological analyses also revealed four major groups, but these agreed only in part with those identified by vocalizations and DNA. Lyncornis macrotis cerviniceps from mainland Southeast Asia and the isolated Lyncornis macrotis jacobsoni on Simeulue Island, off north-west Sumatra, differed by six diagnostic plumage characters, but could not be distinguished by their vocalizations or mitochondrial DNA. Conversely, Lyncornis macrotis macrotis from the Philippines and Lyncornis macrotis macropterus from Sulawesi differed diagnosably in song and by 5% sequence divergence but could not be diagnosed by plumage. We adopt an integrative approach and propose to recognize five monotypic species: Lyncornis temminckii, Lyncornis cerviniceps (synonym: Lyncornis bourdilloni), Lyncornis jacobsoni, Lyncornis macrotis and Lyncornis macropterus. Our study illustrates that taxonomic revisions based on single lines of evidence can underestimate diversity and underscores the importance of using multiple datasets in species-level taxonomy.
 
Any empirical process will benefit from using multiple evidence. Taxonomy is no exception. In addition, it is important that non-taxonomists abandon any anthropocentric views of bird species as morphologically distinct taxa and realise that taxonomy deals with evolutionary units (lineages, clades) irrespective of how morphologically distinctive they are.
 
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It is interesting that the differences in call, morphology or DNA are not congruent, but it is not particularly surprising.
Why would you split all these forms because they differ in one of these? Why don't you leave them all within the same (still monophyletic) taxon? Might make it harder to publish...?
Of course a nightbird is not all that interested in what its partner might look like.
JanHein
 
Xenospiza said:
It is interesting that the differences in call, morphology or DNA are not congruent, but it is not particularly surprising.
Why would you split all these forms because they differ in one of these? Why don't you leave them all within the same (still monophyletic) taxon? Might make it harder to publish...?
Of course a nightbird is not all that interested in what its partner might look like.
JanHein
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I wait for the paper and as soon as i have it i will send it to you. You might change your mind, or not
 
George Sangster said:
Any empirical process will benefit from using multiple evidence. Taxonomy is no exception. In addition, it is important that non-taxonomists abandon any anthropocentric views of bird species as morphologically distinct taxa and realise that taxonomy deals with evolutionary units (lineages, clades) irrespective of how morphologically distinctive they are.
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Can we consider recognizing at least 3 species: L. macrotis (with two subspecies: macrotis and macropterus), temminckii and cerviniceps (including jacobsoni and bourdilloni as synonyms)?
 
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