Phylogeography and systematics of the genus Colinus

Soo Hyung Eo // John P. Carroll // William E. Palmer // C. Joe Nairn

D. B. Warnell School of Forest Resources

The order Galliformes has been considered one of the more basal groups of modern birds [Neornithes; (Carcraft 1986)]. The order is composed of at least five putative families with member species having worldwide distribution (Sibley and Monroe 1990, del Hoyo 1992). Despite its evolutionary and systematic significance, a widely accepted phylogeny of this group does not exist. The primary cause for this discrepancy arises from the fact that existing phylogenetic studies among the families derive from data sets examining few taxa and fewer individuals within each. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive molecular classification in the the New World quail [family Odontophoridae; (Dimcheff et al. 2002, Pereira et al. 2002)]. New World quail are a recognized family currently composed of nine genera with distribution throughout Nearctic and Neotropic regions. Examination of the phylogenetic relationships within the new world quail would allow integration of these data with those of other studies, thus moving towards a more complete and unified Galliformes phylogeny. We propose to produce a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of New World quail using mitochondrial Cytochrome b, ND2 and control region sequences, in combination with nuclear DNA (microsatellite) sequences. We will additionally evaluate these inferred phylogenetic relationships with respect to their correlation with historical, geographical events.

In addition to inferring the phylogeny of the New World galliformes, generally, we are also interested in the phylogenetic relationships between various populations of the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and their correlation to historical, geographic events. Currently, there are 22 recognized subspecies of bobwhite distributed across the range of the complex. However, the existence of many of these species has led to taxonomic confusion within the genus. This confusion arises primarily due to the fact that males of some subspecies (coyocos, insignis, and atriceps) differ greatly, while females of these species are virtually identical (Johnsgard 1988, Brennan 1999). Furthermore, several of the currently recognized subspecies are conspecific or nearly-so, further muddying the taxonomic waters. It is our belief that molecular investigation of these subspecies will allow differentiation among extant bobwhite subspecies.