Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages

Abstract Background Circus cyaneus is a medium-sized bird of prey that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. There are two currently recognized forms, the Palearctic form C. c. cyaneus (Hen Harrier), and the Nearctic form C. c. hudsonius (Northern Harrier). The forms have recently be...

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Main Authors: Etherington, Graham, Mobley, Jason
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Figshare 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1
https://figshare.com/collections/Molecular_phylogeny_morphology_and_life-history_comparisons_within_Circus_cyaneus_reveal_the_presence_of_two_distinct_evolutionary_lineages/3602342/1
id ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1
record_format openpolar
spelling ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1 2023-05-15T15:55:32+02:00 Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages Etherington, Graham Mobley, Jason 2016 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1 https://figshare.com/collections/Molecular_phylogeny_morphology_and_life-history_comparisons_within_Circus_cyaneus_reveal_the_presence_of_two_distinct_evolutionary_lineages/3602342/1 unknown Figshare https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40657-016-0052-3 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Biophysics Genetics FOS Biological sciences Molecular Biology Evolutionary Biology Ecology Cancer Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences Collection article 2016 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-016-0052-3 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z Abstract Background Circus cyaneus is a medium-sized bird of prey that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. There are two currently recognized forms, the Palearctic form C. c. cyaneus (Hen Harrier), and the Nearctic form C. c. hudsonius (Northern Harrier). The forms have recently been split by the British Ornithologistsâ Union but the American Ornithologistsâ Union and some other taxonomic committees have not yet made any change. Here we examine the phylogenetic relationship between the two forms using sequence data from multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes and examine breeding biology, body size, morphology, dispersal and other behaviors. Methods In order to fully compare cyaneus and hudsonius, we carried out a full literature review, measured museum skins and carried out phylogenetic analysis using a number of different mitochondrial genes and compare our findings to other recent work. Results We find that these two allopatric taxa form reciprocally monophyletic groups, show substantial mtDNA sequence divergence, and further differ significantly with respect to body size, plumage characters, breeding biology, dispersal and other behavioral traits. Conclusions Based on an array of consistently divergent characteristics, it is suggested that the two forms are best regarded as separate species, Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) and Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius). Article in Journal/Newspaper Circus cyaneus DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology)
institution Open Polar
collection DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology)
op_collection_id ftdatacite
language unknown
topic Biophysics
Genetics
FOS Biological sciences
Molecular Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Ecology
Cancer
Inorganic Chemistry
FOS Chemical sciences
spellingShingle Biophysics
Genetics
FOS Biological sciences
Molecular Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Ecology
Cancer
Inorganic Chemistry
FOS Chemical sciences
Etherington, Graham
Mobley, Jason
Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
topic_facet Biophysics
Genetics
FOS Biological sciences
Molecular Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Ecology
Cancer
Inorganic Chemistry
FOS Chemical sciences
description Abstract Background Circus cyaneus is a medium-sized bird of prey that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. There are two currently recognized forms, the Palearctic form C. c. cyaneus (Hen Harrier), and the Nearctic form C. c. hudsonius (Northern Harrier). The forms have recently been split by the British Ornithologistsâ Union but the American Ornithologistsâ Union and some other taxonomic committees have not yet made any change. Here we examine the phylogenetic relationship between the two forms using sequence data from multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes and examine breeding biology, body size, morphology, dispersal and other behaviors. Methods In order to fully compare cyaneus and hudsonius, we carried out a full literature review, measured museum skins and carried out phylogenetic analysis using a number of different mitochondrial genes and compare our findings to other recent work. Results We find that these two allopatric taxa form reciprocally monophyletic groups, show substantial mtDNA sequence divergence, and further differ significantly with respect to body size, plumage characters, breeding biology, dispersal and other behavioral traits. Conclusions Based on an array of consistently divergent characteristics, it is suggested that the two forms are best regarded as separate species, Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) and Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius).
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Etherington, Graham
Mobley, Jason
author_facet Etherington, Graham
Mobley, Jason
author_sort Etherington, Graham
title Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
title_short Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
title_full Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
title_fullStr Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
title_full_unstemmed Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
title_sort molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages
publisher Figshare
publishDate 2016
url https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1
https://figshare.com/collections/Molecular_phylogeny_morphology_and_life-history_comparisons_within_Circus_cyaneus_reveal_the_presence_of_two_distinct_evolutionary_lineages/3602342/1
genre Circus cyaneus
genre_facet Circus cyaneus
op_relation https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40657-016-0052-3
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342
op_rights CC BY 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
op_rightsnorm CC-BY
op_doi https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342.v1
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-016-0052-3
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3602342
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