Ancient DNA Resolves Identity and Phylogeny of New Zealand's Extinct and Living Quail (Coturnix sp.)

BACKGROUND: The New Zealand quail, Coturnix novaezealandiae, was widespread throughout New Zealand until its rapid extinction in the 1870's. To date, confusion continues to exist concerning the identity of C. novaezealandiae and its phylogenetic relationship to Coturnix species in neighbouring Australia, two of which, C. ypsilophora and C. pectoralis, were introduced into New Zealand as game birds. The Australian brown quail, C. ypsilophora, was the only species thought to establish with current populations distributed mainly in the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand. Owing to the similarities between C. ypsilophora, C. pectoralis, and C. novaezealandiae, uncertainty has arisen over whether the New Zealand quail is indeed extinct, with suggestions that remnant populations of C. novaezealandiae may have survived on offshore islands. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using fresh and historical samples of Coturnix sp. from New Zealand and Australia, DNA analysis of selected mitochondrial regions was carried out to determine phylogenetic relationships and species status. Results show that Coturnix sp. specimens from the New Zealand mainland and offshore island Tiritiri Matangi are not the New Zealand quail but are genetically identical to C. ypsilophora from Australia and can be classified as the same species. Furthermore, cytochrome b and COI barcoding analysis of the New Zealand quail and Australia's C. pectoralis, often confused in museum collections, show that they are indeed separate species that diverged approximately 5 million years ago (mya). Gross morphological analysis of these birds suggests a parallel loss of sustained flight with very little change in other phenotypic characters such as plumage or skeletal structure. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Ancient DNA has proved invaluable for the detailed analysis and identification of extinct and morphologically cryptic taxa such as that of quail and can provide insights into the timing of evolutionary changes that influence morphology

Tracking reveals limited interactions between Campbell Albatross and fisheries during the breeding season

International audienceFisheries-related mortality has been influential in driving global declines in seabird populations. Understanding the overlap between seabird distribution and fisheries is one important element in assessing bycatch risk, and may be achieved by tracking the movements of individual birds and fishing vessels. Here, we assess the spatiotemporal overlap between the vulnerable Campbell Albatross Thalassarche impavida and large (>28 m) commercial fishing boats in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). We used a novel analytical approach, bivariate Gaussian bridge movement modelling, to compute spatiotemporal utilization distributions of bird-borne global positioning system (GPS) loggers and data from the Vessel Monitoring System. We tracked birds for 28,815 h during incubation and chick brooding, with half of this time spent within New Zealand’s EEZ, utilizing 6.7% of the available area. However, there was no evidence that albatrosses and fishing vessels were in the same location simultaneously. We accounted for the broader ecological footprint of fishing vessels by calculating the distance between GPS-fix locations for albatrosses and fishing vessels, revealing that albatrosses were within 30 km of fishing vessels in 8.4% of foraging trips. This highlights differences in estimated fine-scale spatiotemporal overlaps which may be due to the distance between albatrosses and vessels or the methods used. Overall, the low levels of spatial overlap could be a result of Campbell Albatross’ preference for foraging in areas without fishing activity or competitive exclusion by other species. Our results reinforce the importance of multi-scale, temporally explicit, and multi-national approaches to risk assessment, as Campbell Albatrosses spend approximately half of their time foraging outside New Zealand’s EEZ

What can whiskers tell us about mammalian evolution, behaviour, and ecology?

Most mammals have whiskers; however, nearly everything we know about whiskers derives from just a handful of species, including laboratory rats Rattus norvegicus and mice Mus musculus, as well as some species of pinniped and marsupial. We explore the extent to which the knowledge of the whisker system from a handful of species applies to mammals generally. This will help us understand whisker evolution and function, in order to gain more insights into mammalian behaviour and ecology. This review is structured around Tinbergen’s four questions, since this method is an established, comprehensive, and logical approach to studying behaviour. We ask: how do whiskers work, develop, and evolve? And what are they for? While whiskers are all slender, curved, tapered, keratinised hairs that transmit vibrotactile information, we show that there are marked differences between species with respect to whisker arrangement, numbers, length, musculature, development, and growth cycles. The conservation of form and a common muscle architecture in mammals suggests that early mammals had whiskers. Whiskers may have been functional even in therapsids. However, certain extant mammalian species are equipped with especially long and sensitive whiskers, in particular nocturnal, arboreal species, and aquatic species, which live in complex environments and hunt moving prey. Knowledge of whiskers and whisker use can guide us in developing conservation protocols and designing enriched enclosures for captive mammals. We suggest that further comparative studies, embracing a wider variety of mammalian species, are required before one can make large-scale predictions relating to evolution and function of whiskers. More research is needed to develop robust techniques to enhance the welfare and conservation of mammals

A virgin flight across the Tasman Sea? Satellite tracking of post-fledging movement in the Australasian Gannet Morus serrator

New technologies enable tracking of the route, duration, and destination of previously unassessed long-distance movements. Fledgling Australasian Gannets Morus serrator from breeding populations in New Zealand had been reported to fly across the Tasman Sea to Australia, with this historic knowledge derived from the recovery of banded carcasses and from observations of initial flight direction. We deployed Argos satellite devices on ten M. serrator fledglings at Cape Kidnappers Gannetry, North Island, New Zealand, across 2 years. Birds that were tracked leaving the colony initially appeared to have landed on the sea. A male bird and two female birds were tracked moving along the east coast to the south tip of New Zealand. The two females then crossed the Tasman Sea to eastern Australian coastal waters in 4 and 5 days, respectively. We suggest that, contrary to historic reports, the route via Stewart Island constitutes a realized migration path for fledglings from Cape Kidnappers, which might minimize the distance traveled across the open sea to southeastern Australia or Tasmania. Our results further imply that initial direction of flight needs not be indicative of the subsequent migration route taken by M. serrator. This highlights the importance of direct tracking technology for adequate assessment of dispersal and migration in seabirds and other highly mobile species