Wildlife and Ecology Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
BMC Evol Biol. 2010 Jul 22;10:224. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-10-224.
Phenotypic and molecular genetic data often provide conflicting patterns of intraspecific relationships confounding phylogenetic inference, particularly among birds where a variety of environmental factors may influence plumage characters. Among diurnal raptors, the taxonomic relationship of Buteo jamaicensis harlani to other B. jamaicensis subspecies has been long debated because of the polytypic nature of the plumage characteristics used in subspecies or species designations.
To address the evolutionary relationships within this group, we used data from 17 nuclear microsatellite loci, 430 base pairs of the mitochondrial control region, and 829 base pairs of the melanocortin 1 receptor (Mc1r) to investigate molecular genetic differentiation among three B. jamaicensis subspecies (B. j. borealis, B. j. calurus, B. j. harlani). Bayesian clustering analyses of nuclear microsatellite loci showed no significant differences between B. j. harlani and B. j. borealis. Differences observed between B. j. harlani and B. j. borealis in mitochondrial and microsatellite data were equivalent to those found between morphologically similar subspecies, B. j. borealis and B. j. calurus, and estimates of migration rates among all three subspecies were high. No consistent differences were observed in Mc1r data between B. j. harlani and other B. jamaicensis subspecies or between light and dark color morphs within B. j. calurus, suggesting that Mc1r does not play a significant role in B. jamaicensis melanism.
These data suggest recent interbreeding and gene flow between B. j. harlani and the other B. jamaicensis subspecies examined, providing no support for the historical designation of B. j. harlani as a distinct species.
表型和分子遗传数据常常提供相互矛盾的种内关系模式，从而混淆系统发育推断，尤其是在鸟类中，各种环境因素可能会影响羽毛特征。在昼行性猛禽中，Buteo jamaicensis harlani 与其他 B. jamaicensis 亚种之间的分类关系一直存在争议，因为用于亚种或物种指定的羽毛特征具有多态性。
为了解决该组内的进化关系，我们使用了来自 17 个核微卫星基因座、线粒体控制区的 430 个碱基对和黑素皮质素 1 受体 (Mc1r) 的 829 个碱基对的数据，调查了三种 B. jamaicensis 亚种（B. j. borealis、B. j. calurus、B. j. harlani）之间的分子遗传分化。核微卫星基因座的贝叶斯聚类分析显示，B. j. harlani 与 B. j. borealis 之间没有显著差异。在线粒体和微卫星数据中观察到的 B. j. harlani 与 B. j. borealis 之间的差异与形态相似的亚种 B. j. borealis 和 B. j. calurus 之间的差异相当，并且所有三个亚种之间的迁移率估计值都很高。在 Mc1r 数据中，B. j. harlani 与其他 B. jamaicensis 亚种或 B. j. calurus 内的浅色和深色形态之间没有观察到一致的差异，表明 Mc1r 在 B. jamaicensis 黑化中没有发挥重要作用。
这些数据表明，B. j. harlani 与所检查的其他 B. jamaicensis 亚种之间最近发生了杂交和基因流，这并没有为将 B. j. harlani 作为一个独特物种的历史指定提供支持。
