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Systematics and conservation of an endemic radiation of Accipiter hawks in the Caribbean islands
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Systematics and conservation of an endemic radiation of Accipiter hawks in the Caribbean islands

Therese A. Catanach, Matthew H. Halley, Julie M. Allen, Jeff A. Johnson, Russell Thorstrom, Samantha Palhano, Chyna Poor Thunder, Julio C. Gallardo and Jason D. Weckstein
11 Jun 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5dv41ns65
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https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5dv41ns65View
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Abstract

Systematics
More than one third of the bird species found in the Caribbean are endemic to a set of neighboring islands or a single island. However, we have little knowledge of the evolutionary history of the Caribbean avifauna and the lack of phylogenetic studies limits our understanding of the extent of endemism in the region. The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) occurs widely across the Americas and includes three endemic Caribbean taxa: venator on Puerto Rico, striatus on Hispaniola, and fringilloides on Cuba. These island populations have undergone extreme declines presumably due to ecosystem changes caused by anthropogenic factors, as well as due to severe hurricanes. Sharp-shinned Hawks in general, and Caribbean Sharp-shinned Hawks in particular, have not been placed in a modern phylogenetic context. However, the island taxa have historically been presumed to have some ongoing gene flow with mainland populations. Here we sequenced ultraconserved elements (UCEs) from 38 samples, focusing on Caribbean taxa. Using a combination of UCEs and thier flanking regions, mitochondrial genome sequences, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we investigated the phylogenetic relationships among Caribbean lineages and their relationships to mainland taxa. We found that Caribbean Sharp-shinned Hawks are reciprocally monophyletic in all data sets with regard to mainland populations and among island taxa (with no shared mtDNA haplotypes) and that divergence in the NADH dehydrogenase 2 gene (ND2) between these mainland and island groups averaged 1.83%. Furthermore, sNMF analysis indicated that Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and mainland samples each form separate populations with very limited admixture. We argue that our findings are consistent with the recognition of the three resident Caribbean populations as species-level taxa, because both nuclear and mitochondrial genetic data indicate reciprocal monophyly and have species-level divergences there is no sharing of mitochondrial haplotypes among or between island taxa and those on the mainland; and they are diagnosable by plumage.

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