The Old World flycatchers, robins and chats (Aves, Muscicapidae) are a diverse songbird family with over three hundred species. Despite continuous efforts over the past two decades, there is still no comprehensive and well-resolved species-level phylogeny for Muscicapidae. Here we present a supermatrix phylogeny that includes all 50 currently recognized genera and ca. 92% of all the species, built using data from up to 15 mitochondrial and 13 nuclear loci. In addition to assembling nucleotide sequences available in public databases, we also extracted sequences from the genome assemblies and raw sequencing reads from GenBank and included a few unpublished sequences. Our analyses resolved the phylogenetic position for several previously unsampled taxa, for example, the Grand Comoro Flycatcher Humblotia flavirostris, the Collared Palm Thrush Cichladusa arquata, and the Taiwan Whistling-Thrush Myophonus insularis, etc. We also provide taxonomic recommendations for genera that exhibit paraphyly or polyphyly. Our results suggest that Muscicapidae diverged from Turdidae (thrushes and allies) in the early Miocene, and the most recent common ancestors for the four subfamilies (Muscicapinae, Niltavinae, Cossyphinae and Saxicolinae) all arose around the middle Miocene.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107646 | DOI Listing |
Zool Res
January 2025
BGI Research, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310030, China.
The amniote pallium, a vital component of the forebrain, exhibits considerable evolutionary divergence across species and mediates diverse functions, including sensory processing, memory formation, and learning. However, the relationships among pallial subregions in different species remain poorly characterized, particularly regarding the identification of homologous neurons and their transcriptional signatures. In this study, we utilized single-nucleus RNA sequencing to examine over 130 000 nuclei from the macaque ( ) neocortex, complemented by datasets from humans ( ), mice ( ), zebra finches ( ), turtles ( ), and lizards ( s), enabling comprehensive cross-species comparison.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntegr Org Biol
December 2024
Department of Biological Sciences, California State University San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd, San Marcos, CA 92096, USA.
Loggerhead shrikes () are medium-sized predatory songbirds that feed on arthropods and vertebrates. Prior to attacking their prey, shrikes have been observed performing "wing-flashing" behavior, consisting of rapid fluttering of the wings that seems to emphasize the white patches on their dorsal surfaces. We sought to quantify this behavior by analyzing videos of San Clemente loggerhead shrikes attacking insect and vertebrate prey, to understand whether and how wing-flashing affects prey capture performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Neurosci
January 2025
National Brain Research Centre, Manesar, Gurugram, 122052, Haryana, India.
Delta-opioid receptors (δ-ORs) are known to be involved in associative learning and modulating motivational states. We wanted to study if they were also involved in naturally-occurring reinforcement learning behaviors such as vocal learning, using the zebra finch model system. Zebra finches learn to vocalize early in development and song learning in males is affected by factors such as the social environment and internal reward, both of which are modulated by endogenous opioids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Behavioural Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, Poznan, 61614, Poland.
Animals employ various strategies to minimize the overlap of their vocalizations with other sounds, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of their communication. However, little attention has been given to experimentally examining how the structure of the acoustic signal changes in response to various kinds of disturbances in the soundscape. In this study, I experimentally investigated whether male thrush nightingales (Luscinia luscinia) adjust their singing rate, song frequency, and song type in response to different types of artificial sounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Lett
January 2025
Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison,1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Assessment of species' vulnerability to climate change has been limited by mismatch between coarse macroclimate data and the fine scales at which species select habitat. Habitat mediates climate conditions, and fine-scale habitat features may permit species to exploit favourable microclimates, but habitat preferences can also constrain their ability to do so. We leveraged fine-resolution models of near-surface temperature and humidity in grasslands to understand how microclimates affect climatic exposure and demographics in a grassland bird community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!