Using Random Sequence Primers in the Polymerase Chain Reaction to identify Gender-Specific Genetic Markers in House Wrens

In order to fully understand the biology of asexually reproducing organism, it is essential that one is able to distinguish the males from the females. In determining the gender of monomorphic birds, standard techniques including visual identification, surgery, and karyotyping are impossible or impractical for large-scale studies. A reliable gender identification method that uses genetic markers identified within the DNA would be an asset to the researcher because it would require only a minimal blood sample which could be collected in the field without harming the bird and stored easily for long periods of time. Griffiths and Tiwari (1993) described such a technique based on the generation of RAPD markers (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA). The use of RAPDs involves the amplification of genomic DNA in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers of arbitrary oligonucleotide sequence to generate-a range of DNA fragments that can be separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. This study employs this method to generate a reliable sex probe for the house wren (Troglodytes aedon), using RAPDs to isolate female-specific markers from random locations on the W sex chromosome. Results indicate that after extensive manipulation of the Griffiths and Tiwari protocol, consistent PCR amplification of house wren DNA was achieved. However, further research is necessary to find a primer that will yield W specific fragments in large samples of wrens. If successful, the sex probe will be used in future studies of house wren reproductive strategy. Specifically, gender identification information of house wren nestlings will be used to investigate the maternal condition hypothesis

Comparative phylogeographic analysis suggests a shared history among eastern North American boreal forest birds

Accepted author manuscriptPhylogeographic structure within high-latitude North American birds is likely shaped by a history of isolation in refugia during Pleistocene glaciations. Previous studies of individual species have come to diverse conclusions regarding the number and location of likely refugia, but no studies have explicitly tested for biogeographic concordance in a comparative phylogeographic framework. Here we use a hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences from 653 individuals of 6 bird species that are currently co-distributed in the boreal forest of North America to test for biogeographic congruence. We find support for congruent phylogeographic patterns across species, with shallow divergence dating to the Holocene within each species. Combining genetic results with paleodistribution modeling, we propose that these species shared a single Pleistocene refugium south of the ice sheets in eastern North America. Additionally, we assess modern geographic genetic structure within species, focusing on Newfoundland and disjunct high-elevation populations at the southern periphery of ranges. We find evidence for a “periphery effect” in some species with significant genetic structure among peripheral populations and between peripheral and central populations. Our results suggest that reduced gene flow among peripheral populations, rather than discordant biogeographic histories, can explain the small differences in genetic structure and levels of genetic diversity among co-distributed boreal forest birdsYe

New Species of Extinct Rails (Aves: Rallidae) from Archaeological Sites in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.

v. ill. 23 cm.QuarterlyWe examined 53 bones of rails (Rallidae), previously referred to Gallirallus n. spp., from archaeological sites on four islands in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. We describe three new, extinct, flightless species of Gallirallus: G. roletti (Tahuata), G. gracilitibia (Ua Huka), and G. epulare (Nuku Hiva). Two bones from Hiva Oa, although probably representing another extinct species of Gallirallus, are regarded as an inadequate basis for describing a species. At first human contact, the genus Gallirallus probably included many scores if not hundreds of flightless species on islands from the far western Pacific (Okinawa, Philippines, Halmahera) eastward across most of Oceania. As currently understood, the Marquesas Islands represent the eastern range limit of Gallirallus

New Species of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) from an Archaeological Site on Huahine, Society Islands.

v. ill. 23 cm.QuarterlyWe examined 50 bones previously assigned to ‘‘Gallirallus new sp.’’ from the prehistoric (1,250 750 yr B.P.) Fa‘ahia archaeological site on Huahine, Society Islands. Most of these specimens ðn ¼ 47Þ, representing nearly all major cranial and postcranial skeletal elements, belong to a medium-sized flightless rail that we name Gallirallus storrsolsoni. Three femora represent a second species of extinct rail that we name Porphyrio mcnabi. With the description of these two species of rails, the total number of extinct species of land birds from the Fa‘ahia site stands at seven, consisting of two rails, two doves, two parrots, and a starling. Fa‘ahia also has yielded bones of six other species of land birds that no longer exist on Huahine but survive elsewhere in Oceania

Rediscovery of missing specimens once held at Vassar College, including the holotype of Baudo Guan Penelope ortoni

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