Phylogeography of three widespread neotropical avian taxa: rufous-tailed hummingbird, white-breasted wood-wren, and anthracothorax mangos

Abstract

The three chapters presented in this thesis use molecular markers to examine the evolutionary history of three groups of widespread Neotropical birds. In chapter one, I found that Amazilia tzacatl forms a monophyletic clade and exhibits four genetic clades: Atlantic and Pacific slopes of Middle America, South America, and Isla Coiba. The Escudo Hummingbird (A. t. handleyi) is probably not a full biological species. Specimens from the eastern Darien province of Panama suggest that individuals from Middle and South America colonized this area within the past 25 years. In chapter two, I recovered an unresolved polytomy between Henicorhina leucosticta and its purported sister species, H. leucoptera Mitochondrial DNA suggests a South American origin for H.leucosticta-leucoptera wood-wrens. In contrast to previous studies, I recovered high levels of structure among Middle American populations contradicting the hypothesis of a recent Middle American expansion. In chapter three, phylogenetic reconstructions support the merging of the genus Eulampis into Anthracothorax, but the inclusion of Avocettula is not supported. Biogeographically, ancestral area reconstructions support the radiation of Anthracothorax mangos out of the West Indies onto the mainland, which represents the first recognized example of mainland colonization by West Indian taxa for the family Trochilidae.