Ardeidae (1 Viewer)

Peter Kovalik said:

Z.H. Huang, M.F. Li and J.W. Qin. DNA barcoding and phylogenetic relationships of Ardeidae (Aves: Ciconiiformes). Genet. Mol. Res. 15 (3).

Abstract:
The avian family Ardeidae comprises long-legged freshwater and coastal birds. There has been considerable disagreement concerning the intrafamilial relationships of Ardeidae. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) was used as a marker for the identification and phylogenetic analysis of avian species. In the present study, we analyzed the COI barcodes of 32 species from 17 genera belonging to the family Ardeidae. Each bird species possessed a barcode distinct from that of other bird species except for Egretta thula and E. garzetta, which shared one barcoding sequence. Kimura two-parameter distances were calculated between barcodes. The average genetic distance between species was 34-fold higher than the average genetic distance within species. Neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood methods were used to construct phylogenetic trees. Most species could be discriminated by their distinct clades in the phylogenetic tree. Both methods of phylogenetic reconstruction suggested that Zebrilus, Tigrisoma, and Cochlearius were an offshoot of the primitive herons. COI gene analysis suggested that the other herons could be divided into two clades: Botaurinae and Ardeinae. Our results support the Great Egret and Intermediate Egret being in separate genera, Casmerodius and Mesophoyx, respectively.

[pdf]

[Phylogenetic tree of Ardeidae constructed from COI sequences]

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Ixobrychus involucris close to Botaurus species rather than true Ixobrychus.

Are these two genera so different after all to suggest the possibility to keep one genus ( i. e. Botaurus) ?

LeNomenclatoriste said:

Ixobrychus involucris close to Botaurus species rather than true Ixobrychus.

Are these two genera so different after all to suggest the possibility to keep one genus ( i. e. Botaurus) ?

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Looking at Peter's phylo tree, I guess one could, though it would be a large genus compared to others in the family. But more sense to transfer Ixobrychus involucris to Botaurus; looking at pics of it, it doesn't look much like the other Ixobrychus spp (e.g. no pale forewing patch), but more like a Botaurus in plumage pattern, though not size.

Nutcracker said:

Looking at Peter's phylo tree, I guess one could, though it would be a large genus compared to others in the family. But more sense to transfer Ixobrychus involucris to Botaurus; looking at pics of it, it doesn't look much like the other Ixobrychus spp (e.g. no pale forewing patch), but more like a Botaurus in plumage pattern, though not size.

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If they had included I. exilis (Least Bittern) in their data set, they'd have recovered it much closer to Botaurus, and with better support, than I. involucris. See Päckert et al. 2014 (link in [post #3] above).

I expect the return of Ardetta, Dupetor and Ardeirallus (based on Päckert & al. tree). For involucris and exilis, I have no idea .

LeNomenclatoriste said:

I expect the return of Ardetta, Dupetor and Ardeirallus (based on Päckert & al. tree). For involucris and exilis, I have no idea .

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Isn't the type of Ardetta the same as for Ixobrychus? (I. minuta/us)

Nannocnus, Stejneger, 1887 (type = eurhythmus) seems to be available for the most divergent group (eurhythmus + cinnamomeus).

andrew147 said:

Isn't the type of Ardetta the same as for Ixobrychus? (I. minuta/us)

Nannocnus, Stejneger, 1887 (type = eurhythmus) seems to be available for the most divergent group (eurhythmus + cinnamomeus).

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Exact !!! Ardetta Gray 1842, List Gen. Birds ed. 2, app., p.13, type : Ardea minuta L.

Oups

But unfortunately, no names are available for exilis and involucris.

Tif Update September 17, 2016



Herons and Egrets: I've made a number of changes in the heron family. Besides some rearrangement within Nycticoracinae and Ardeinae, I've transferred Least Bittern to Botaurus from Ixobrychus based on Päckert et al. (2014, Fig. 3); transferred White-eared Night-Heron to Oroanassa from Gorsachius based on Zhou et al. (2016); and transferred White-backed Night-Heron to Calherodius from Gorsachius due to general uncertainty about its affinities.

Further, Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis, has been split into Western Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis, and Eastern Cattle Egret, Bubulcus coromandus based on differences in plumage and DNA (Raty barcode tree). Intermediate Egret, Mesophoyx intermedia, has been split into Intermediate Egret, Mesophoyx intermedia, Yellow-billed Egret, Mesophoyx brachyrhyncha (Africa), and Plumed Egret, Mesophoyx plumifera (Australasia) based on differences in breeding plumage (HBW/BirdLife). Finally, Great Egret, Casmerodius modestus, has been split into Eastern Great Egret, Casmerodius modestus, Great White Egret, Casmerodius albus and African Great Egret, Casmerodius melanorhynchos, based on differences in breeding plumage and except for melanorhynchos, DNA.
[Ardeidae, Ardeae, 3.05]

Interesting! Surprised involucris isn't transfered to Botaurus as well, considering Huang et al. Biogeographically it would certainly make some sense.

gusasp said:

Interesting! Surprised involucris isn't transfered to Botaurus as well, considering Huang et al. Biogeographically it would certainly make some sense.

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The position of exilis based on available data has much higher support than that of involucris (in part because exilis seems closer to Botaurus, in part because there are also cyt-b data for this species). Look at Päckert et al's trees: in Fig. 2, involucris is basal to Botaurus + exilis but, in Fig. 3, it is basal to the other Ixobrychus spp. (And I remember having seen it basal to the whole complex in some of my trees as well.)

Incidentally, barcodes also suggest a deep mtDNA divergence between North and South American Least Bitterns, that may prove interesting.
(Based on two sequences, one from Brazil, published by Chaves et al 2014 [pdf], and which can be retrieved from [GenBank] or from [BOLD], but which unfortunately is very short; the other from French Guiana, which is in BOLD but not public. The French Guiana sequence makes up [a BIN on its own in BOLD], that is nearest to the other exilis sequences, with an average uncorrected distance of 5.68%. The Brazilian sequence was not attributed to any BIN, presumably because of its shortness, but is 100% identical to the homologous part of the French Guiana sequence.)

BOLD also has a non-public Australian sequence of "I. minutus", that appears to be closer to I. sinensis than to the nominate race of the species to which it is ascribed (also makes up [a BIN on its own]; average distance from sinensis 4.49%; average distance from minutus [as given here] 6.14%).

On the "less funny" side, there are now [five barcodes of Egretta gularis schistacea] from Djibouti in GenBank, that suggest a total absence of differentiation from E. garzetta.

Zuhao Huang, Meifang Li, Rujue Ruan and Jiawei Qin. Organization and Variation of the Mitochondrial DNA Control Region in Ardeidae (Aves: Ciconiiformes) and their Phylogenetic Relationship. Pakistan J. Zool., vol. 49(5), pp 1917-1920, 2017.

Abstract:

Control region is a non-coding region of mitochondrial genome. To infer the organization and variation of Ardeidae mitochondrial DNA control region, the control region genes of 20 species were analyzed. All the Ardeidae species had duplicate control regions, except four species having only single region. The control region spans the region between the genes for tRNAGlu - tRNAPhe in the most Ardeidae species. The length of the control region sequences ranged from 1427 bp (Ixobrychus flavicollis) to 3871 bp (Botaurus stellaris). The average genetic distances among the species varied from 5.39% (between Egretta sacra and Egretta garzetta) to 41.15% (between Egretta sacra and Botaurus stellaris). Five conserved sequence boxes (F to B) in the domain II of Ardeidae sequences were localized. Maximum likelihood method was used to reconstruct the phylogenetic trees based on HKY+ G model. The phylogenetic tree grouped members of every genus were grouped into each clade, except the genus Gorsachius. Our results indicated that the genus Gorsachius might not be monophyletic.

abstract and full pdf here

Ardea insignis

Yubao Duan, Shimiao Shao, Yuan Li & Xu Luo (2018) The complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis (Pelecaniformes：Ardeidae), Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 3:2, 1284-1285, DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2018.1532842

[pdf]

Ardea (herodias) occidentalis

McGuire JA, SS Taylor & FH Sheldon. 2019. Evaluating the taxonomic status of the Great White Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis) using morphological, behavioral and genetic evidence. The Auk: Ornithological Advances, Volume 136, Issue 1, 1 January 2019, uky010, https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/uky010

Abstract:

The Great White Heron (GWH) has an all-white plumage and occurs in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Described originally as Ardea occidentalis, it is now considered a subspecies of Great Blue Heron (GBH; A. herodias). GWH and GBH meet in Florida Bay at the southern tip of Florida, providing the opportunity to evaluate their interaction and species status. To this end, we examined size variation and mate choice across their contact zone and genetic variation range-wide. Measurements of 7 morphological characters indicate trends, but not a significant difference, in size between GBH and GWH in southern Florida. GBH and GWH nest mainly in different places (mainland vs. islands) and at different peak times. In Florida Bay, mixed pairs occur, but white-white and blue-blue pairs are more common than in a randomly mating population. Assessing mating, however, is complicated because most, if not all, nesting blue birds are of mixed parentage. Microsatellite DNA analysis indicates that white and blue herons in Florida Bay and the outer Keys (outside Florida Bay) form a group distinct from blue forms on Florida Peninsula and elsewhere in North America. However, some gene flow occurs from white herons on the outer Keys to white and blue herons in Florida Bay, and from blue herons in Florida Bay to GBH on the Florida Peninsula. GWH alleles occur in all North American populations, but whether this is from gene flow or incomplete lineage sorting is unknown. Deciding GWH's species status is difficult. GWH and GBH meet in an ecotone where some gene flow occurs, but behavior and habitat largely isolate them. We argue in favor of splitting GWH from GBH. Regardless of how it is ultimately classified, the GWH's small population needs to be actively managed as an isolate in an extremely vulnerable environment.

Peter Kovalik said:

McGuire JA, SS Taylor & FH Sheldon. 2019. Evaluating the taxonomic status of the Great White Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis) using morphological, behavioral and genetic evidence. The Auk: Ornithological Advances, Volume 136, Issue 1, 1 January 2019, uky010, https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/uky010

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IOC Updates Diary Mar 24

Post proposed split of Great White Heron on Updates/PS

Peter Kovalik said:

McGuire JA, SS Taylor & FH Sheldon. 2019. Evaluating the taxonomic status of the Great White Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis) using morphological, behavioral and genetic evidence. The Auk: Ornithological Advances, Volume 136, Issue 1, 1 January 2019, uky010, https://doi.org/10.1093/auk/uky010

Abstract:

The Great White Heron (GWH) has an all-white plumage and occurs in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Described originally as Ardea occidentalis, it is now considered a subspecies of Great Blue Heron (GBH; A. herodias). GWH and GBH meet in Florida Bay at the southern tip of Florida, providing the opportunity to evaluate their interaction and species status. To this end, we examined size variation and mate choice across their contact zone and genetic variation range-wide. Measurements of 7 morphological characters indicate trends, but not a significant difference, in size between GBH and GWH in southern Florida. GBH and GWH nest mainly in different places (mainland vs. islands) and at different peak times. In Florida Bay, mixed pairs occur, but white-white and blue-blue pairs are more common than in a randomly mating population. Assessing mating, however, is complicated because most, if not all, nesting blue birds are of mixed parentage. Microsatellite DNA analysis indicates that white and blue herons in Florida Bay and the outer Keys (outside Florida Bay) form a group distinct from blue forms on Florida Peninsula and elsewhere in North America. However, some gene flow occurs from white herons on the outer Keys to white and blue herons in Florida Bay, and from blue herons in Florida Bay to GBH on the Florida Peninsula. GWH alleles occur in all North American populations, but whether this is from gene flow or incomplete lineage sorting is unknown. Deciding GWH's species status is difficult. GWH and GBH meet in an ecotone where some gene flow occurs, but behavior and habitat largely isolate them. We argue in favor of splitting GWH from GBH. Regardless of how it is ultimately classified, the GWH's small population needs to be actively managed as an isolate in an extremely vulnerable environment.

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Want to read

I just noticed that this article was a dissertation submitted in 2001. Why did she wait so long before publishing it?

Ixobrychus [Dupetor] flavicollis

IOC Taxonomic Updates:

Black Bittern is embedded within Ixobrychus (Chang et al. 2003, Päckert et al. 2014 & Zhou et al. (2014, 2016).

Peter Kovalik said:

IOC Taxonomic Updates:

Black Bittern is embedded within Ixobrychus (Chang et al. 2003, Päckert et al. 2014 & Zhou et al. (2014, 2016).

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Hrushka's 2018 dissertation (signed off by Robert Moyle) generally agrees with Zhou et al 2014, but has a different view on some of the sister relationships. Black Bittern it seems has long been considered in Ixobrychus by a sizeable number of researchers, but there's still much to be worked out on Ardea & Egretta's subtleties....
MJB

MJB said:

Hrushka's 2018 dissertation (signed off by Robert Moyle)
MJB

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:t: great

The link for J. Hruska. A phylogenomic evaluation of the relationships among herons (Aves: Ardeidae).

BirdLife Taxonomy: Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is being split: assessment of newly recognised taxa

Following a taxonomic reassessment, Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) has been split into Great Blue Heron (A. herodias) and Great White Heron (A. occidentalis) due to morphological, genetic and behavioural differentiation (see McGuire et al. 2019). The newly-split Great Blue Heron is widespread across North and Central America, as well as the Caribbean. Great White Heron partly overlaps with Great Blue Heron in what has been described as a ‘secondary contact zone’ (McGuire et al. 2019): Great White Heron occurs from southern Florida (Florida Bay and southern Biscayne Bay) and the Florida Keys through Cuba (McGuire et al. 2019, J. Kushlan in litt. 2020). There may be additional breeding populations on islands off the coast of Venezuela, the US and British Virgin Islands, in coastal Yucatán (Mexico) and possibly on other Caribbean islands (McGuire et al. 2019, J. Kushlan in litt. 2020, Vennesland and Butler 2020). It is however unclear whether these are indeed Great White Herons or whether they are breeding individuals or merely vagrant (J. Kushlan in litt. 2020). The largest part of the population is breeding in Florida (J. Kushlan in litt. 2020).

The population size of Great Blue Heron is estimated at 500,000-4,999,999 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2019). The population of Great White Heron appears to be much smaller. In southern Florida, surveys detected 175 nests, equating to 350 mature individuals, in 2018 (per Cook and Baranski 2019, J. Kushlan in litt. 2020). Up to 200 nests, equating to 400 mature individuals, are reported from the Florida Keys, and a further 30-50 nests, equating to 60-100 mature individuals, from the southern Biscayne Bay (Meyer et al. 2018, J. Kushlan in litt. 2020). The population in Cuba has not been quantified, but is reported to be small, with the majority of the population breeding in Florida (J. Kushlan in litt. 2020). The global population of Great White Heron is therefore tenetatively placed in the band 1,000-2,499 mature individuals, though the true population size may be closer to the lower end of the estimate.

Both species are wading birds and inhabit coastal marine and freshwater wetlands (Vennesland and Butler 2020). Threats to them include loss and degradation of habitat through wetland drainage, infrastructural developments and agricultural expansion, as well as decreasing food supply due to the depletion of fish stocks (Powell 1983, McGuire et al. 2019, J. Kushlan in litt. 2020, Vennesland and Butler 2020). The newly-split Great White Heron is further threatened by climate change impacts like increased hurricane frequency and storm surges, and by introduced predators like the Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) in Florida (McGuire et al. 2019). While Great Blue Heron shows a high level of resilience to these threats with increasing population trends, Great White Heron appears to be in steep decline.

The pre-split species was listed as Least Concern (BirdLife International 2020). However, following the taxonomic split, new estimates of the population trends suggest that both species warrant a thorough reassessment, which is provided below.

Wonder what this says about the proposal to split Great Blue Heron that is currently in progress.

Of course I am biased...I am almost certain Northwestern Crow is going to get lumped so I would like my ABA list to at least hold steady