Background: Circus cyaneus is a medium-sized bird of prey that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. There are two currently recognized forms, the Palearctic form C. c. cyaneus(Hen Harrier), and the Ne...Background: Circus cyaneus is a medium-sized bird of prey that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. There are two currently recognized forms, the Palearctic form C. c. cyaneus(Hen Harrier), and the Nearctic form C. c. hudsonius(Northern Harrier). The forms have recently been split by the British Ornithologists' Union but the American Ornithologists' Union and some other taxonomic committees have not yet made any change. Here we examine the phylogenetic relationship between the two forms using sequence data from multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes and examine breeding biology, body size, morphology, dispersal and other behaviors.Methods: In order to fully compare cyaneus and hudsonius, we carried out a full literature review, measured museum skins and carried out phylogenetic analysis using a number of different mitochondrial genes and compare our findings to other recent work.Results: We find that these two allopatric taxa form reciprocally monophyletic groups, show substantial mt DNA sequence divergence, and further differ significantly with respect to body size, plumage characters, breeding biology, dispersal and other behavioral traits.Conclusions: Based on an array of consistently divergent characteristics, it is suggested that the two forms are best regarded as separate species, Hen Harrier(Circus cyaneus) and Northern Harrier(Circus hudsonius).展开更多
基金The costs for the Cytochrome b sequencing and sample procurement was provided by the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology,UC Berkeley.Transport costs for museum visits were met by GJE
文摘Background: Circus cyaneus is a medium-sized bird of prey that is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. There are two currently recognized forms, the Palearctic form C. c. cyaneus(Hen Harrier), and the Nearctic form C. c. hudsonius(Northern Harrier). The forms have recently been split by the British Ornithologists' Union but the American Ornithologists' Union and some other taxonomic committees have not yet made any change. Here we examine the phylogenetic relationship between the two forms using sequence data from multiple nuclear and mitochondrial genes and examine breeding biology, body size, morphology, dispersal and other behaviors.Methods: In order to fully compare cyaneus and hudsonius, we carried out a full literature review, measured museum skins and carried out phylogenetic analysis using a number of different mitochondrial genes and compare our findings to other recent work.Results: We find that these two allopatric taxa form reciprocally monophyletic groups, show substantial mt DNA sequence divergence, and further differ significantly with respect to body size, plumage characters, breeding biology, dispersal and other behavioral traits.Conclusions: Based on an array of consistently divergent characteristics, it is suggested that the two forms are best regarded as separate species, Hen Harrier(Circus cyaneus) and Northern Harrier(Circus hudsonius).
