BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 August 2009 Molecular Systematics of The Red-Bellied and Golden-Fronted Woodpeckers
Erick A. García-Trejo, Alejandro Espinosa De Los Monteros, Ma. Del Coro Arizmendi, Adolfo G. Navarro-Siüenza
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The Red-bellied Woodpecker species group (Melanerpes carolinus and relatives) is composed of five morphologically similar species whose limits have been unclear. The relationship of the Golden-fronted Woodpecker (M. aurifrons) to the remainder of the group is particularly uncertain. We used mitochondrial DNA sequences to examine the phylogeny of this group and its close relatives. We sequenced 872 bp, including fragments of the genes for ND2, ND3, COIII, and tRNAmet, of 11 species of Melanerpes. We constructed trees from combined sequences by using the maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference approaches. We found that M. aurifrons is not monophyletic but rather consists of two clades, one comprising tropical populations (M. santacruzi), the other, consisting of northern populations, being sister to M. carolinus. The Caribbean species, M. superciliaris, is sister to the carolinus—aurifrons clade. The group as a whole appears to have diversified into multiple lineages in response to several episodes of vicariance, perhaps associated with glacial—interglacial cycles. As a result of these findings, major taxonomic changes in the group are needed.

© 2009 by The Cooper Ornithological Society. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, http://www.ucpressjournals.com/reprintInfo.as.
Erick A. García-Trejo, Alejandro Espinosa De Los Monteros, Ma. Del Coro Arizmendi, and Adolfo G. Navarro-Siüenza "Molecular Systematics of The Red-Bellied and Golden-Fronted Woodpeckers," The Condor 111(3), 442-452, (1 August 2009). https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2009.080017
Received: 29 August 2008; Accepted: 1 June 2009; Published: 1 August 2009
KEYWORDS
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Melanerpes aurifrons
Melanerpes carolinus
Middle America
molecular phylogeny
red-bellied woodpecker
speciation
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top