A Gondwanan origin of passerine birds supported by DNA sequences of the endemic New Zealand wrens
Date
2002
Authors
Ericson, P.
Christidis, L.
Cooper, A.
Irestedt, M.
Jackson, J.
Johansson, U.
Norman, J.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2002; 269(1488):235-241
Statement of Responsibility
Per G. P. Ericson, Les Christidis, Alan Cooper, Martin Irestedt, Jennifer Jackson, Ulf S. Johansson and Janette A. Norman
Conference Name
Abstract
Zoogeographic, palaeontological and biochemical data support a Southern Hemisphere origin for passerine birds, while accumulating molecular data suggest that most extant avian orders originated in the mid-Late Cretaceous. We obtained DNA sequence data from the nuclear c-myc and RAG-1 genes of the major passerine groups and here we demonstrate that the endemic New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) are the sister taxon to all other extant passerines, supporting a Gondwanan origin and early radiation of passerines. We propose that (i) the acanthisittids were isolated when New Zealand separated from Gondwana (ca. 82-85 Myr ago), (ii) suboscines, in turn, were derived from an ancestral lineage that inhabited western Gondwana, and (iii) the ancestors of the oscines (songbirds) were subsequently isolated by the separation of Australia from Antarctica. The later spread of passerines into the Northern Hemisphere reflects the northward migration of these former Gondwanan elements.