Phylogenetic Relationships among the Trogons

Abstract

The order Trogoniformes currently is divided into six genera: Apaloderma, Pharomachrus, Euptilotis, Priotelus, Trogon, and Harpactes. For this study, the question of intergeneric relationships was addressed based on mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S ribosomal RNA genes. Maximum parsimony analyses confirmed the monophyly of currently accepted genera. A monophyletic clade encompassing the New World genera was the sister group to the Asian genus Harpactes. The sister group of these clades, in turn, was the African genus Apaloderma. Within the New World clade, the sister taxon of the genus Trogon was a clade formed by the Eared Trogon (Euptilotis neoxenus) and the Quetzals (Pharomachrus spp.). The most basal genus within the New World clade was Priotelus. These results suggest an Old World (Africa/Eurasia) origin for trogons, with the New World representing a secondary area of diversification. Patterns in plumage coloration concurred with relationships inferred from the molecular data. A hypothesis for the evolution of iridescent structures in trogon feathers suggests an increase in the complexity of these structures in the youngest lineages.

Parallel Radiations in the Primary Clades of Birds

“…Furthermore, if the early Eocene fossil Messelornis from Germany and Wyoming is sister to sunbittern, as alleged (Hesse 1988(Hesse , 1992Livezey 1998), then the sunbittern-kagu clade had a pantropical distribution through the Northern Hemisphere long after the breakup of Gondwana. There are several avian families with modern pantropical distributions in which the closest relationships exist between Asian and South American members of each rather than with African members (Houde et al 1995;Espinosa de los Monteros 1998;Whittingham et al 2000). Similar distributions among plants are suggested to represent dispersal in the late Paleogene, rather than vicariance of western Gondwana as originally hypothesized (Davis et al 2002;Manchester and Chen 2002).…”

Higher-Level Phylogeny of Trogoniformes

“…Target genes were amplified and isolated as single fragments using specifically designed PCR primers. DNA amplification was conducted in Peltier-effect thermocyclers (MJ Research) and air thermocyclers (Idaho Technologies) following the parameters and conditions suggested by Espinosa de los Monteros (1998). PCR products were subjected to horizontal electrophoresis in a 2% NuSieve low-melting-point agarose gel (FMC Bioproducts).…”

“…The genes were reamplified in subfragments of about 400 bp using internal oligonucleotide primers. The primers used are described elsewhere (Helm-Bychowski and Cracraft, 1993;Knight and Mindell, 1993;Espinosa de los Monteros, 1998). All PCR experiments were conducted along with positive and negative controls to test for contamination.…”

Microanatomy and evolution of the nanostructures responsible for iridescent coloration in Trogoniformes (Aves)

“…Thus, in order to compile the matrix for the analyses, we assumed that the recognized species of Trogoniformes are monophyletic, an assumption supported by the results of Espinosa de los Monteros (1998). Although the dissimilar origins of some sequences might be a potential source of noise for phylogenetic reconstruction (due to, e.g., mixture of different phylogroups, fusion of non-sister lineages), we nonetheless consider that the cladograms presented here are robust hypotheses supported by the current taxonomic knowledge and the available data.…”

“…Deducing the phylogenetic relationships of trogons and quetzals has been the focus of several molecular studies (DaCosta and Klicka 2008; Espinosa de los Monteros 1998Monteros , 2000Hosner et al 2010;Johansson 1988;Johansson andEricson 2003, 2005;Moyle 2005;Sorenson et al 2003). Therefore, DNA sequences from several genes are available from GenBank ( Sequences from three mitochondrial and four nuclear genes were used to infer the molecular phylogeny.…”