Johnson Jeff A, Watson Richard T, Mindell David P
The Peregrine Fund, 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane, Boise, ID 83709, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2005 Jul 7;272(1570):1365-71. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3098.
The Cape Verde kite (Milvus milvus fasciicauda) is considered to be one of the rarest birds of prey in the world and at significant risk of extinction. For this reason there is great interest in both the taxonomic and the population status of this group. To help resolve its taxonomic status, we provide phylogenetic analyses based on three mitochondrial genes for a sampling of kites in the genus Milvus, including a broad geographical sampling of black kites (Milvus migrans), red kites (Milvus milvus), Cape Verde kite museum specimens collected between 1897 and 1924, and five kites trapped on the Cape Verde Islands during August 2002. We found that the historical Cape Verde kites, including the type specimen, were non-monophyletic and scattered within a larger red kite clade. The recently trapped kites from the Cape Verde Islands were all phylogenetically diagnosed as black kites. Our findings suggest that the traditional Cape Verde kite is not a distinctive evolutionary unit, and the case for species status, as recently suggested by others, is not supported. We do find support for recognition of at least one clade of yellow-billed kites, traditionally considered as a black kite subspecies, as a distinctive phylogenetic species.
佛得角鸢（Milvus milvus fasciicauda）被认为是世界上最稀有的猛禽之一，面临着极高的灭绝风险。因此，人们对该物种的分类地位和种群状况都极为关注。为了帮助确定其分类地位，我们基于三个线粒体基因，对鸢属中的鸢进行了系统发育分析，样本包括黑鸢（Milvus migrans）的广泛地理样本、红鸢（Milvus milvus）、1897年至1924年间收集的佛得角鸢博物馆标本，以及2002年8月在佛得角群岛捕获的五只鸢。我们发现，包括模式标本在内的历史上的佛得角鸢并非单系群，而是散布在一个更大的红鸢分支内。最近在佛得角群岛捕获的鸢在系统发育上均被诊断为黑鸢。我们的研究结果表明，传统意义上的佛得角鸢并非一个独特的进化单元，其他人最近提出的将其认定为一个物种的观点缺乏依据。我们确实支持将至少一个传统上被视为黑鸢亚种的黄嘴鸢分支认定为一个独特的系统发育物种。
