Random interbreeding between cryptic lineages of the Common Raven: evidence for speciation in reverse.

DNA sequence studies frequently reveal evidence of cryptic lineages in morphologically uniform species, many of which turn out to be evolutionarily distinct species. The Common Raven (Corvus corax) includes two deeply divergent mtDNA lineages: one lineage seems restricted to western North America and the other is Holarctic in distribution. These deep clades hint of the possibility of cryptic species in the western United States.