Phylogeny of Passerida (Aves: Passeriformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data.

Abstract Passerida is a monophyletic group of oscine passerines that includes almost 3500 species (about 36%) of all bird species in the world. . Monophyly of their Sylvioidea could not be corroborated-these taxa falls either into a clade with wrens, gnatcatchers, and nuthatches, or one with, e.g., warblers, bulbuls, babblers, and white-eyes. The tits, penduline tits, and waxwings belong to Passerida but have no close relatives among the taxa studied herein

Flight Speeds among Bird Species: Allometric and Phylogenetic Effects

Flight speed is expected to increase with mass and wing loading among flying animals and aircraft for fundamental aerodynamic reasons. Assuming geometrical and dynamical similarity, cruising flight speed is predicted to vary as (body mass)1/6 and (wing loading)1/2 among bird species. To test these scaling rules and the general importance of mass and wing loading for bird flight speeds, we used tracking radar to measure flapping flight speeds of individuals or flocks of migrating birds visually identified to species as well as their altitude and winds at the altitudes where the birds were flying. Equivalent airspeeds (airspeeds corrected to sea level air density, Ue) of 138 species, ranging 0.01–10 kg in mass, were analysed in relation to biometry and phylogeny. Scaling exponents in relation to mass and wing loading were significantly smaller than predicted (about 0.12 and 0.32, respectively, with similar results for analyses based on species and independent phylogenetic contrasts). These low scaling exponents may be the result of evolutionary restrictions on bird flight-speed range, counteracting too slow flight speeds among species with low wing loading and too fast speeds among species with high wing loading. This compression of speed range is partly attained through geometric differences, with aspect ratio showing a positive relationship with body mass and wing loading, but additional factors are required to fully explain the small scaling exponent of Ue in relation to wing loading. Furthermore, mass and wing loading accounted for only a limited proportion of the variation in Ue. Phylogeny was a powerful factor, in combination with wing loading, to account for the variation in Ue. These results demonstrate that functional flight adaptations and constraints associated with different evolutionary lineages have an important influence on cruising flapping flight speed that goes beyond the general aerodynamic scaling effects of mass and wing loading

Phylogeny and historical biogeography of gnateaters (Passeriformes,\ud Conopophagidae) in the South America forests

We inferred the phylogenetic relationships, divergence time and biogeography of Conopophagidae (gnateaters) based on sequence data of mitochondrial genes (ND2, ND3 and cytb) and nuclear introns (TGFB2 and G3PDH) from 45 tissue samples (43 Conopophaga and 2 Pittasoma) representing all currently recognized species of the family and the majority of subspecies. Phylogenetic relationships were estimated by maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Divergence time estimates were obtained based on a Bayesian relaxed clock model. These chronograms were used to calculate diversification rates and reconstruct ancestral areas of the genus Conopophaga. The phylogenetic analyses support the reciprocal monophyly of the two genera, Conopophaga and Pittasoma. All species were monophyletic with the exception of C. lineata, as C. lineata cearae did not cluster with the other two C. lineata subspecies. Divergence time estimates for Conopophagidae suggested that diversification took place during the Neogene, and that the diversification rate within Conopophaga clade was highest in the late Miocene, followed by a slower diversification rate, suggesting a diversity-dependent pattern. Our analyses of the diversification of family Conopophagidae provided a scenario for evolution in Terra Firme forest across tropical South America. The spatio-temporal pattern suggests that Conopophaga originated in the Brazilian Shield and that a complex sequence of events possibly related to the Andean uplift and infilling of former sedimentation basins and erosion cycles shaped the current distribution and diversity of this genus.We thank John Bates (FMNH) and Nate Rice (ANSP) for providing some of the tissues used in this study. We thank Fernando M. d’Horta, Renato G. Lima, Gustavo S. Cabanne, and Guilherme R. Brito for collecting some samples used in this study. Amy Chernasky from Lynx Edicions kindly provided permission to use images from Handbook of Birds of the World. We thank Gustavo Bravo for suggestions on previous version of the manuscript. We thank an anonymous reviewer and the Editor Carey Krajewski for their comments. This study was co-funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (2009/12989-1, BIOTA 2013/50297-0), NSF (DOB 1343578), NASA, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). JF and PHF thanks the Danish National Research Foundation for funding the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate; PGPE and MI thanks the Swedish Research Council for funds (Grant No. 621-2010-5321 to P.G.P.E.). PHF was supported by Marie-Curie grants (PIOF-GA-2012-330582-CANARIP-RAT, FP7 CIG-293845). Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) provided permits to collect the samples. This work was developed in the Research Center on Biodiversity and Computing (BioComp) of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), supported by the USP Provost’s Office for Research

Gene × dietary pattern interactions in obesity: Analysis of up to 68 317 adults of European ancestry

Obesity is highly heritable. Genetic variants showing robust associations with obesity traits have been identified through genome-wide association studies. We investigated whether a composite score representing healthy diet modifies associations of these variants with obesity traits. Totally, 32 body mass index (BMI)- and 14 waist-hip ratio (WHR)-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms were genotyped, and genetic risk scores (GRS) were calculated in 18 cohorts of European ancestry (n = 68 317). Diet score was calculated based on self-reported intakes of whole grains, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds (favorable) and red/processed meats, sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages and fried potatoes (unfavorable). Multivariable adjusted, linear regression within each cohort followed by inverse variance-weighted, fixed-effects meta-analysis was used to characterize: (a) associations of each GR

Gene x dietary pattern interactions in obesity : analysis of up to 68 317 adults of European ancestry

Obesity is highly heritable. Genetic variants showing robust associationswith obesity traits have been identified through genome wide association studies. We investigated whether a composite score representing healthy diet modifies associations of these variants with obesity traits. Totally, 32 body mass index (BMI)- and 14 waist-hip ratio (WHR)-associated single nucleotide polymorphismswere genotyped, and genetic risk scores (GRS) were calculated in 18 cohorts of European ancestry (n = 68 317). Diet score was calculated based on self-reported intakes of whole grains, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds (favorable) and red/processed meats, sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages and fried potatoes (unfavorable). Multivariable adjusted, linear regression within each cohort followed by inverse variance-weighted, fixed-effects meta-analysis was used to characterize: (a) associations of each GRS with BMI and BMI-adjustedWHR and (b) diet score modification of genetic associations with BMI and BMI-adjusted WHR. Nominally significant interactions (P = 0.006-0.04) were observed between the diet score and WHR-GRS (but not BMI-GRS), two WHR loci (GRB14 rs10195252; LYPLAL1 rs4846567) and two BMI loci (LRRN6C rs10968576; MTIF3 rs4771122), for the respective BMI-adjustedWHR or BMI outcomes. Although the magnitudes of these select interactions were small, our data indicated that associations between genetic predisposition and obesity traits were stronger with a healthier diet. Our findings generate interesting hypotheses; however, experimental and functional studies are needed to determine their clinical relevance.Peer reviewe