A phylogenomic evaluation of the relationships among herons (Aves:Ardeidae)
Issue Date
2018-05-31Author
Hruska, Johnathan
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
47 pages
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
M.A.
Discipline
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Rights
Copyright held by the author.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Herons (Aves: Ardeidae) are a cosmopolitan family of birds that comprises ~65 species and is found on all continents except Antarctica. Despite being well-studied by ornithologists, phylogenetic relationships within the family are uncertain. For example, the earliest diverging lineages have not been confidently identified, and the monophyly of some genera has been questioned. Here, I present the results of a molecular phylogenetic analysis of herons that includes ~70 percent of species diversity. Analyses of thousands of genomic loci yielded a fully resolved and well-supported phylogeny for the herons. Phylogenetic relationships were broadly congruent across all analytical methods and clarified the composition and placement of several genera that have been traditionally difficult to place. For example, I identified the tiger-herons as the sister-group to all other herons and recovered non-monophyly for some tribes (Nycticoracini and Egrettini) and genera (e.g. Gorsachius and Ixobrychus).
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