Distinct and extinct: Genetic differentiation of the Hawaiian eagle

Abstract

a b s t r a c tEagles currently occur in the Hawaiian Islands only as vagrants, but Quaternary bones of Haliaeetus eagles have been found on three of the major islands. A previous study of a 3500-year-old skeleton from Maui found its mtDNA more similar to White-tailed (H. albicilla) than to Bald (H. leucocephalus) Eagles, but low intraspecific resolution of the markers and lack of comparative data from mainland populations precluded assessment of whether the individual was part of the diversity found in Eurasia, or whether it represented an endemic Hawaiian lineage. Using ancient DNA techniques, we sequenced part of the rapidly evolving mtDNA control region from the same specimen, and compared it to published range-wide control region data from White-tailed Eagles and newly generated sequences from Bald Eagles. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the Hawaiian eagle represents a distinct (>3% divergent) mtDNA lineage most closely related to those of extant White-tailed Eagles. Based on fossil calibration, we estimate that the Hawaiian mtDNA lineage diverged from mainland sequences around the Middle Pleistocene. Although not clearly differentiated morphologically from mainland forms, the Hawaiian eagle thus likely constituted an isolated, resident population in the Hawaiian archipelago for more than 100,000 years, where it was the largest terrestrial predator.

Natural and anthropogenic influences on the population structure of white‐tailed eagles in the Carpathian Basin and central Europe

“…It is well known that juveniles are vagrant, travelling even hundreds of kilometres until settling down as adult breeders (e.g. more than 2000 km from Finland to the Czech Republic (Bělka and Horal ) or to Hungary (Horváth ) with even larger distances; WTEs reached even Hawaii (Hailer et al ) multiple times). Still, according to observation data the species is overall considered as philopatric (Hám et al , Mizera , Helander and Stjernberg , Struwe‐Juhl and Grünkorn , Bělka and Horal , Whitfield et al ).…”

A new subfossil locality for the extinct large Malagasy eagle Stephanoaetus mahery (Aves: Falconiformes): Implications for time of extinction and ecological specificity

“…coronatus . With the use of ancient DNA techniques, this can be tested, as has been done to examine the specific identity of eagle material of a similar geological age from the Hawaiian Islands (Hailer et al, 2015).…”

“…Given that the vast majority of diurnal birds of prey nesting on Madagascar are endemic to the island, it is inferred that S. mahery is specifically distinct from S. coronatus. With the use of ancient DNA techniques, this can be tested, as has been done to examine the specific identity of eagle material of a similar geological age from the Hawaiian Islands (Hailer et al, 2015).…”

First archaeogenetic results verify the mid‐Holocene occurrence of Dalmatian pelican Pelecanus crispus far out of present range

“…Successful genetic analysis of thin‐walled bird bones is more difficult and therefore very few aDNA studies about birds are published so far. They mainly discuss evolutionary, taxonomical, or biogeographical aspects of different bird species of the Pacific and Australian region (ratites: Cooper et al , Bunce et al ; geese: Paxinos et al ; petrels: Welch et al ; eagles: Fleischer et al , Hailer et al ). However, for birds there are no studies comparable to this one that trace historic distribution ranges using archeological data in combination with genetic analysis.…”