Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail.

Autor: van de Crommenacker J; Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), Mont Fleuri, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles.; Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom., Bunbury N; Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), Mont Fleuri, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles.; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom., Jackson HA; Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom., Nupen LJ; DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa., Wanless R; DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.; Institute of Marine Affairs and Resources Management, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan., Fleischer-Dogley F; Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), Mont Fleuri, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles., Groombridge JJ; Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom., Warren BH; Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2019 Dec 23; Vol. 14 (12), pp. e0226064. Date of Electronic Publication: 2019 Dec 23 (Print Publication: 2019).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226064
Abstrakt: Flight loss has evolved independently in numerous island bird lineages worldwide, and particularly in rails (Rallidae). The Aldabra white-throated rail (Dryolimnas [cuvieri] aldabranus) is the last surviving flightless bird in the western Indian Ocean, and the only living flightless subspecies within Dryolimnas cuvieri, which is otherwise volant across its extant range. Such a difference in flight capacity among populations of a single species is unusual, and could be due to rapid evolution of flight loss, or greater evolutionary divergence than can readily be detected by traditional taxonomic approaches. Here we used genetic and morphological analyses to investigate evolutionary trajectories of living and extinct Dryolimnas cuvieri subspecies. Our data places D. [c.] aldabranus among the most rapid documented avian flight loss cases (within an estimated maximum of 80,000-130,000 years). However, the unusual intraspecific variability in flight capacity within D. cuvieri is best explained by levels of genetic divergence, which exceed those documented between other volant taxa versus flightless close relatives, all of which have full species status. Our results also support consideration of Dryolimnas [cuvieri] aldabranus as sufficiently evolutionary distinct from D. c. cuvieri to warrant management as an evolutionary significant unit. Trait variability among closely related lineages should be considered when assessing conservation status, particularly for traits known to influence vulnerability to extinction (e.g. flightlessness).
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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