Phylogeny of the nuthatches of the Sitta canadensis group and its evolutionary and biogeographic implications

A phylogeny of ten species of nuthatch (Sittidae), including the newly described Kabylie Nuthatch Sitta ledanti of North Africa, was constructed using a sequence of 491 bp of the cytochrome-b gene of mtDNA. On the basis of trees derived using parsimony analysis and neighbour-joining methods, and assessments of robustness based on bootstrap analysis, the following phylogenetic relationships were inferred: the five species of the Sitta canadensis group are a monophyletic group, within which S. canadensis, S. whiteheadi and S. villosa form the sister clade of S. krueperi and S. ledanti; the other relations are not so well supported. These phylogenetic relationships are congruent with morphology. Differences in behavioural and ecological characters as well as biogeographic patterns are discussed.