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Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail

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 withi...

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Autores principales: van de Crommenacker, Janske, Bunbury, Nancy, Jackson, Hazel A., Nupen, Lisa J., Wanless, Ross, Fleischer-Dogley, Frauke, Groombridge, Jim J., Warren, Ben H.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6927662/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31869373
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226064
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author van de Crommenacker, Janske
Bunbury, Nancy
Jackson, Hazel A.
Nupen, Lisa J.
Wanless, Ross
Fleischer-Dogley, Frauke
Groombridge, Jim J.
Warren, Ben H.
author_facet van de Crommenacker, Janske
Bunbury, Nancy
Jackson, Hazel A.
Nupen, Lisa J.
Wanless, Ross
Fleischer-Dogley, Frauke
Groombridge, Jim J.
Warren, Ben H.
author_sort van de Crommenacker, Janske
collection PubMed
description 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).
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spelling pubmed-69276622020-01-07 Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail van de Crommenacker, Janske Bunbury, Nancy Jackson, Hazel A. Nupen, Lisa J. Wanless, Ross Fleischer-Dogley, Frauke Groombridge, Jim J. Warren, Ben H. PLoS One Research Article 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). Public Library of Science 2019-12-23 /pmc/articles/PMC6927662/ /pubmed/31869373 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226064 Text en © 2019 van de Crommenacker et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
van de Crommenacker, Janske
Bunbury, Nancy
Jackson, Hazel A.
Nupen, Lisa J.
Wanless, Ross
Fleischer-Dogley, Frauke
Groombridge, Jim J.
Warren, Ben H.
Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail
title Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail
title_full Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail
title_fullStr Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail
title_full_unstemmed Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail
title_short Rapid loss of flight in the Aldabra white-throated rail
title_sort rapid loss of flight in the aldabra white-throated rail
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6927662/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31869373
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226064
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