Suárez Nicolás M, Betancor Eva, Klassert Tilman E, Almeida Teresa, Hernández Mariano, Pestano José J
Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, E-35080 Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2009 Nov;53(2):556-64. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.018. Epub 2009 Jul 24.
The widespread common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) inhabits five of the seven Canary Islands. Sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1002bp) revealed new insights into the systematics and phylogeography of this taxon. Additionally, a set of microsatellite loci were analyzed to examine the structure of these populations. Our results suggest that a new species of the genus Fringilla is present in the Canary Islands, which comprises at least three subspecies, but with a different distribution to that which has been morphologically accepted. The specimens from Gran Canaria are genetically distinct from those of La Gomera and Tenerife (F. c. canariensis), which suggests the existence of an undescribed taxon. Furthermore, nuclear microsatellite data suggest an ongoing incipient speciation process in this population. This study provides both important conservationist implications and a basis for re-evaluating the taxonomic status of the Canarian Fringilla coelebs populations.
分布广泛的苍头燕雀（Fringilla coelebs）栖息于加那利群岛七个岛屿中的五个。线粒体细胞色素b基因序列（1002bp）揭示了该分类单元在系统学和系统地理学方面的新见解。此外，还分析了一组微卫星位点，以研究这些种群的结构。我们的结果表明，加那利群岛存在一种新的燕雀属物种，它至少包含三个亚种，但其分布与形态学上所认可的不同。大加那利岛的标本在基因上与拉戈梅拉岛和特内里费岛的标本（F. c. canariensis）不同，这表明存在一个未被描述的分类单元。此外，核微卫星数据表明该种群正在进行初始物种形成过程。这项研究既具有重要的保护意义，也为重新评估加那利群岛苍头燕雀种群的分类地位提供了依据。
