Phylogeography of Dendrocinda turdina and Drymophyla squamata (Aves): reconstruction of the evolutionary history of passerine birds from the Atlantic forest

Author(s)

Ana Cristina Fazza

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB)
• Defense date: 2015-06-03

Examining board members

Cristina Yumi Miyaki; Jaqueline Maria Goerck; Diogo Meyer; Gustavo Adolfo Bravo Mora; Vera Nisaka Solferini

• Advisor: Cristina Yumi Miyaki

Abstract

Here we present the phylogeographic history of two Passerine birds: Dendrocincla turdina (Dendrocolaptidae) and Drymophila squamata (Thamnophilidae). Both are endemic species of the Atlantic Forest lowlands and their occurrence overlaps along most of their geographic distribution, but D. turdina reaches higher altitudes and D. squamata has in a disjunct population in the northeast, where D. turdina does not occur. The genetic structure and the demographic history of both species was studied, and inferences about potential historical processes that could have influenced their genetic diversity pattern were made. For D. turdina we used seven microsatellites and sequences of one mitochondrial (mtDNA) gene and one intron. For D. squamata sequences of one mtDNA gene and two introns were obtained. The first chapter shows that D. turdina does not present population genetic structure but has evidences of population expansion. Microsatellite analyses also show absence of structure and given their high mutation rates, this indicates that there is no evidence of any recent divergences. Results based on mtDNA and intron sequences showed that the demographic expansion started during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Approximate bayesian computation (ABC) was used to test this scenario of a unique population with expansion based on nine molecular markers. The results were congruent with those from other analyses. It seems that a bottleneck was followed by an increase of population size, and at the LGM the population effective size was two orders of magnitude lower than nowadays. The second chapter presents data on D. squamata. Four mitochondrial lineages that are geographically separated were observed. Lineages South, Center, and North seem to have diverged in the middle of the Pleistocene and the Northeast lineage, that grouped the disjunct population, seems to have diverged around 1.1 million years ago. Clades South and North presented evidences of demographic expansions during the LGM. Both geotectonic and climatic oscillations from the Quaternay could have beeen involved in the diversification process; while rivers may helped to maintain the lineages differentiated, at least clades North and Center. The geographic distribution of these lineages did not match the one described for D. squamata subspecies. Thus, indicating that a taxonomic revision is needed. The divergence of the Northeast lineage seems to be old and it occurs in a reduced and deforested area, besides it is geographically isolated from the main distribution of the species. This highlights that the conservation of the Northeast lineage should be granted major attention. This thesis contributed with data on two avian species with distinct phylogeographic histories that could have been shaped by similar processes that occurred in the Atlantic forest. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/11678-5 - Phylogeography of Dendrocincla turdina (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) and Drymophila squamata (Aves: Thamnophilidae): subsidizing the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of passerine birds from Atlantic forest
• Grantee: Ana Cristina Fazza
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate