An elevational shift facilitated the Mesoamerican diversification of Azure‐hooded Jays (Cyanolyca cucullata) during the Great American Biotic Interchange
![Thumbnail](/bitstream/handle/1808/35049/ECE3-13-e10411.pdf.jpg?sequence=4&isAllowed=y)
View/ Open
Issue Date
2023-08-15Author
McCormack, John E.
Hill, Molly M.
DeRaad, Devon A.
Kirsch, Eliza J.
Reckling, Kelsey R.
Mutchler, Marquette J.
Ramirez, Brenda R.
Campbell, Russell M. L.
Salter, Jessie F.
Pizarro, Alana K.
Tsai, Whitney L. E.
Bonaccorso, Elisa
Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Published Version
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10425738/Rights
Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) was a key biogeographic event in the history of the Americas. The rising of the Panamanian land bridge ended the isolation of South America and ushered in a period of dispersal, mass extinction, and new community assemblages, which sparked competition, adaptation, and speciation. Diversification across many bird groups, and the elevational zonation of others, ties back to events triggered by the GABI. But the exact timing of these events is still being revealed, with recent studies suggesting a much earlier time window for faunal exchange, perhaps as early as 20 million years ago (Mya). Using a time‐calibrated phylogenetic tree, we show that the jay genus Cyanolyca is emblematic of bird dispersal trends, with an early, pre‐land bridge dispersal from Mesoamerica to South America 6.3–7.3 Mya, followed by a back‐colonization of C. cucullata to Mesoamerica 2.3–4.8 Mya, likely after the land bridge was complete. As Cyanolyca species came into contact in Mesoamerica, they avoided competition due to a prior shift to lower elevation in the ancestor of C. cucullata. This shift allowed C. cucullata to integrate itself into the Mesoamerican highland avifauna, which our time‐calibrated phylogeny suggests was already populated by higher‐elevation, congeneric dwarf‐jays (C. argentigula, C. pumilo, C. mirabilis, and C. nanus). The outcome of these events and fortuitous elevational zonation was that C. cucullata could continue colonizing new highland areas farther north during the Pleistocene. Resultingly, four C. cucullata lineages became isolated in allopatric, highland regions from Panama to Mexico, diverging in genetics, morphology, plumage, and vocalizations. At least two of these lineages are best described as species (C. mitrata and C. cucullata). Continued study will further document the influence of the GABI and help clarify how dispersal and vicariance shaped modern‐day species assemblages in the Americas.
Collections
Citation
McCormack JE, Hill MM, DeRaad DA, Kirsch EJ, Reckling KR, Mutchler MJ, Ramirez BR, Campbell RML, Salter JF, Pizarro AK, Tsai WLE, Bonaccorso E. An elevational shift facilitated the Mesoamerican diversification of Azure-hooded Jays (Cyanolyca cucullata) during the Great American Biotic Interchange. Ecol Evol. 2023 Aug 15;13(8):e10411. doi: 10.1002/ece3.10411. PMID: 37589041; PMCID: PMC10425738
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.