Topic
African thrush
About: African thrush is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3 publications have been published within this topic receiving 21 citations. The topic is also known as: African Thrush.
Papers
TL;DR: Genetic divergence between the taxa suggests that they may have been isolated for over 4 Myr, and genetic evidence corroborates the phenotypic evidence and support the split of T. olivaceofuscus into two species: Sao Tomethrush T. Olivace ofuscus and Pr ´ incipe thrush Turdus xanthorhynchus.
Abstract: The Gulf of Guinea thrush Turdus olivaceofuscus is endemic to the islands of Sao Tome´ (nominate olivaceofuscus) and Pr ´ incipe (subspecies xanthorhynchus). Rela- tionships between the two island taxa, originally described as two different species, are uncertain. This problem has been difficult to resolve due to the scarcity of information from Pr ´ incipe birds. A focused effort to find birds from Pr ´ incipe resulted in new observations, the first records of its song, and in the capture of four individuals, which provided new data for analyses. We obtained additional data from museum specimens. Our analyses indicate that the two populations differ substantially in size, bill shape and bill, eye and leg coloration as well as in several plumage characteristics. In addition, xanthorhynchus utters a low call of a type not previously recorded in the genus Turdus. Genetic evidence corroborates the phenotypic evidence: both taxa constitute clearly independent evolutionary lineages (2368 bp from the mitochondrial markers ND2, ND3 and cytochrome b (cyt-b) from four individuals of each population). Genetic divergence between the taxa (cyt-b: uncorrected: 6.4%; corrected: 8.8%) suggests that they may have been isolated for over 4 Myr. These results support the split of T. olivaceofuscus into two species: Sao Tomethrush T. olivaceofuscus and Pr ´ incipe thrush Turdus xanthor- hynchus. The latter is a very rare species, restricted to the most inaccessible parts of Pr ´ incipe Island. Phylogenetic inference favoured the African thrush Turdus pelios as the closest living relative to the Gulf of Guinea species.
22 citations
TL;DR: The initial results suggest that the cultivable gut microbial community may bypass the diversity loss associated with island colonization, and as gut communities are composed mainly by mutualistic bacteria, diversifying selection (against an impoverished bacterial community), may counteract the diversity gain brought about by the stochastic and demographic effects of the founder process.
Abstract: The study of island biodiversity has inspired many advances in evolutionary biology. However, whether patterns of microorganism diversity are influenced by insularity is poorly understood. In particular, microorganisms that live in symbiotic association, such as the microbiota that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of bigger animals, are subjected to demographic and coevolutionary processes that may add complexity to the common expectation of impoverished diversity on oceanic islands. Here, we explore this topic by studying the cultivable gut bacteria of two sister species of birds, from Sao Tome island and nearby mainland Gabon, the endemic Sao Tome thrush Turdus olivaceofuscus and the African thrush Turdus pelios. We found no differences in the diversity of cultivable gut bacteria between these thrushes, suggesting that, unlike what is commonly found for macrofauna, insularity might not represent a strong constraint for gut bacterial diversity. Although further research on complete gut bacterial communities and a broader range of species and areas is needed, our initial results suggest that the cultivable gut microbial community may bypass the diversity loss associated with island colonization. This could arise from intrinsic factors such as their large population sizes within hosts and low rates of extinction. Furthermore, as gut communities are composed mainly by mutualistic bacteria, diversifying selection (against an impoverished bacterial community), may counteract the diversity loss brought about by the stochastic and demographic effects of the founder process.
20 citations
28 Jul 2016
TL;DR: Voice of the different races of African Thrush (Turdus pelios) is analyzed and compared to quantify the extent of any vocal differences using the criteria proposed by Tobias et al. (2010), as a support for taxonomic review.
Abstract: In the following we briefly analyze and compare voice of the different races of African Thrush (Turdus pelios). We also try to quantify the extent of any vocal differences using the criteria proposed by Tobias et al. (2010), as a support for taxonomic review. We have made use of sound recordings available on-line from Xeno Canto (XC). Song is a rather continuous series of notes and short phrases, often repeated several times before switching to a different one. Some examples of song per race, illustrated with sonograms: chiguancoides Gambia
1 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2010 | 1 |