THE PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS OF BERTHELOTS PIPIT ANTHUS-BERTHELOTIIILLUSTRATED BY DNA-SEQUENCE DATA, WITH REMARKS ON THE GENETIC-DISTANCE BETWEEN ROCK AND WATER PIPITS ANTHUS-SPINOLETTA

The phylogenetic relationships of Berthelot's Pipit Anthus berthelotii , which is endemic to three groups of North Atlantic islands, have puz zled ornithologists for more than a century. A total of 1041 base pair cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA sequences from Berthelot's Pipit are c ompared with homologous sequences from the Tawny Pipit Anthus campestr is, Richard's Pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae, the Meadow Pipit Anthus pr atensis, the Red-breasted Pipit Anthus cervinus, the Tree Pipit Anthus travialis, Rock and Water Pipits Anthus spinoletta and the White Wagt ail Motacilla alba. In the resulting phylogeny, the sister taxon of Be rthelot's Pipit is unambiguously the Tawny Pipit, with Richard's Pipit forming a deeper branch on the same clade. Sequences of a Danish Rock Pipit and a Swiss Water Pipit support a close relationship between th ese two species, but more comprehensive studies of intra- and interpop ulation variation are required before considering their taxonomic rank ing. Some preliminary inferences are made regarding phylogenetic tende ncies in the genus Anthus.