Phylogenetic relationships of the red-bellied grackle (Icteridae: Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data

Carlos Daniel Cadena, Andrés M. Cuervo, Scott M. Lanyon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The phylogenetic affinities of the Red-bellied Grackle (Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster), a Colombian endemic and the only member of this genus, are enigmatic. Based on phylogenetic analyses of sequences from the cytochrome b and ND2 mitochondrial genes, we present a first hypothesis on the systematic position of Hypopyrrhus. In so doing, we complete the sampling at the genus level for a published phylogeny of New World blackbirds (Johnson and Lanyon 1999). Hypopyrrhus belongs in a clade composed of mostly South American species within the grackles and allies assemblage, one of the five main lineages in the Icteridae. Within this lineage, Hypopyrrhus is consistently placed in a clade with Gymnomystax mexicanus and Lampropsar tanagrinus, but parsimony and maximum-likelihood reconstructions do not agree on which of these species is its sister taxon. Vocal and morphological data suggest that Hypopyrrhus and Gymnomystax are likely sister taxa. The addition of Hypopyrrhus does not cause major topological changes to Johnson and Lanyon's (1999) phylogeny of the grackles and allies; thus, the conclusions of evolutionary studies that used this phylogeny as a baseline remain largely unaltered.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)664-670
Number of pages7
JournalCondor
Volume106
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2004

Keywords

  • Andes
  • Colombia
  • Gymnomystax mexicanus
  • Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster
  • Icteridae
  • Lampropsar tanagrinus
  • Molecular phylogeny

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