A rare case of interspecific hybridization in the tracheophone suboscines: Chestnut-naped Antpitta Grallaria nuchalis × Chestnut-crowned Antpitta G. ruficapilla in a fragmented Andean landscape |
| |
Authors: | CARLOS DANIEL CADENA ,BERNABÉ LÓ PEZ-LANÚ S,JOHN M. BATES,NIELS KRABBE,NATHAN H. RICE,F. GARY STILES,JUAN DIEGO PALACIO,& PAUL SALAMAN |
| |
Affiliation: | Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Apartado 4976, Bogotá, Colombia; Posadas 1528, Piso 17C, C1112ADB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Department of Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL 60605, USA; Zoological Museum University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark; Ornithology Department, Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA; Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Apartado 7495, Bogotá, Colombia; Banco de Tejidos y Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Apartado 6713, Cali, Colombia; American Bird Conservancy, 4249 Loudoun Ave., PO Box 249, The Plains, VA 20198, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Based on analyses of variation in plumage, morphometrics, vocalizations, and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, we document the occurrence of interspecific hybridization between a Chestnut-naped Antpitta Grallaria nuchalis and a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta G. ruficapilla in a high-elevation forest fragment in the Cordillera Central of the Andes of Colombia. One hybrid individual was collected and at least two were recorded singing. The hybrid specimen exhibits a combination of phenotypic traits that exclude other species of antpittas as potential parents, and its vocalizations combine elements of songs of both of its parental species. Genetic analyses demonstrate that the hybrid has G. nuchalis mitochondrial DNA and mixed nuclear DNA with copies corresponding to G. nuchalis and G. ruficapilla alleles, demonstrating that the female parent was G. nuchalis. Hybridization is considered extremely rare in most groups of suboscine passerines, but it may be facilitated when populations are decimated as a consequence of deforestation and habitat fragmentation. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|