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Dissertation
Integrative systematics and evolution of seasonal migration in the nightingale-thrushes (Aves: Turdidae: Catharus)
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000786
Abstract
The genus Catharus is a monophyletic group of forest-dwelling passerine birds known colloquially as nightingale-thrushes, or simply thrushes. This dissertation integrates multiple sources of information including phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences, morphometric analyses of study skins and eggs, spectrographic analyses of vocalizations, and intensive research of primary sources in libraries and archives, to achieve several interrelated objectives. Chapters 1-5 contain a systematic review of historical literature to identify potential errors in Catharus taxonomy and take corrective actions (neotypification) to stabilize nomenclature. Chapters 6-7 contain phylogenetic reconstructions and analysis of geographic variation in genetic and phenotypic characters in C. dryas and C. fuscater, two poorly known Neotropical complexes, to evaluate species limits and test predictions of competing mechanisms to explain sky island distributions. Chapter 8 contains an investigation of the evolutionary causes and consequences of seasonal migration with a phylogeny reconstructed with ultraconserved elements (UCEs), sequenced from a nearly comprehensive sample of named taxa and dense geographic sampling, and a similarly comprehensive original dataset of morphometric measurements. Phylogenetic comparative analysis and maximum likelihood modeling are used to characterize the migratory phenotype, reconstruct the ancestral state of migration-related characters at relevant nodes of the Catharus phylogeny, and test predictions of multiple interrelated hypotheses about the evolution of migration and the relationship between migration and sexual selection.
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Details
- Title
- Integrative systematics and evolution of seasonal migration in the nightingale-thrushes (Aves: Turdidae: Catharus)
- Creators
- Matthew Ryan Halley
- Contributors
- Jason D. Weckstein (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xxii, 270 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991015241381804721