Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds

Erich D. Jarvis*, Siavash Mirarab, Andre J. Aberer, Bo Li, Peter Houde, Cai Li, Simon Y W Ho, Brant C. Faircloth, Benoit Nabholz, Jason T. Howard, Alexander Suh, Claudia C. Weber, Rute Andreia Rodrigues da Fonseca, Jianwen Li, Fang Zhang, Hui Li, Long Zhou, Nitish Narula, Liang Liu, Ganesh GanapathyBastien Boussau, Md Shamsuzzoha Bayzid, Volodymyr Zavidovych, Sankar Subramanian, Toni Gabaldón, Salvador Capella-Gutiérrez, Jaime Huerta-Cepas, Bhanu Rekepalli, Kasper Munch Terkelsen, Mikkel Heide Schierup, Bent Erik Kramer Lindow, Wesley C. Warren, David Ray, Richard E. Green, Michael W. Bruford, Xiangjiang Zhan, Andrew Dixon, Shengbin Li, Ning Li, Yinhua Huang, Elizabeth P. Derryberry, Mads Frost Bertelsen, Frederick H. Sheldon, Robb T. Brumfield, Claudio V. Mello, Peter V. Lovell, Morgan Wirthlin, Maria Paula Cruz Schneider, Francisco Prosdocimi, Jose Alfredo Samaniego Castruita, Amhed Missael Vargas Velazquez, Luis Alonso Alfaro Nuñez, Paula Campos, Bent Petersen, Thomas Sicheritz-Ponten, An Pas, Tom Bailey, Paul Scofield, Michael Bunce, David M. Lambert, Qi Zhou, Polina Perelman, Amy C. Driskell, Beth Shapiro, Zijun Xiong, Yongli Zeng, Shiping Liu, Zhenyu Li, Binghang Liu, Kui Wu, Jin Xiao, Xiong Yinqi, Qiuemei Zheng, Yong Zhang, Huanming Yang, Jian Wang, Linnea Smeds, Frank E. Rheindt, Michael Braun, Jon Fjeldså, Ludovic Antoine Alexandre Orlando, F. Keith Barker, Knud Andreas Jønsson, Warren Johnson, Klaus Peter Koepfli, Stephen O'Brien, David Haussler, Oliver A. Ryder, Carsten Rahbek, Eske Willerslev, Gary R. Graves, Travis C. Glenn, John McCormack, Dave Burt, Hans Ellegren, Per Alström, Scott V. Edwards, Alexandros Stamatakis, David P. Mindell, Joel Cracraft, Edward L. Braun, Tandy Warnow, Jun Wang, M Thomas P Gilbert, Guojie Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work
958 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To better determine the history of modern birds, we performed a genome-scale phylogenetic analysis of 48 species representing all orders of Neoaves using phylogenomic methods created to handle genome-scale data.We recovered a highly resolved tree that confirms previously controversial sister or close relationships.We identified the first divergence in Neoaves, two groups we named Passerea and Columbea, representing independent lineages of diverse and convergently evolved land and water bird species. Among Passerea, we infer the common ancestor of core landbirds to have been an apex predator and confirm independent gains of vocal learning. Among Columbea, we identify pigeons and flamingoes as belonging to sister clades. Even with whole genomes, some of the earliest branches in Neoaves proved challenging to resolve, which was best explained by massive protein-coding sequence convergence and high levels of incomplete lineage sorting that occurred during a rapid radiation after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event about 66 million years ago.

Original languageEnglish
JournalScience
Volume346
Issue number6215
Pages (from-to)1320-1331
Number of pages12
ISSN0036-8075
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

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