MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF TANAGERS (THRAUPINAE) - EVOLUTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF A DIVERSE RADIATION OF NEOTROPICAL BIRDS

The tanagers (Passeriformes: Emberizidae: Thraupinae) are a diverse gr oup of mostly Neotropical birds with a wide range of feeding morpholog ies, behaviors, plumage patterns and colors, and habitat preferences, Phylogenetic relationships of genera in this lineage were investigated using cytochrome b sequence data, This study indicates that the gener a Euphonia and Chlorophonia (traditionally considered pare of Thraupin ae) do not form a monophyletic group with the other tanagers. Within t he rest of Thraupinae, several monophyletic groups are identified that agree with traditional sequential taxonomies. Other monophyletic grou ps provide novel interpretations of biogeographic patterns and morphol ogical evolution within tanagers. In several lineages, plumage pattern s and colors persist despite dramatic changes in bill morphology. Phyl ogenetic structure and estimated timings of divergence events indicate that tanagers probably originated on Caribbean islands and later dive rsified throughout Central and South America during the mid-Tertiary. (C) 1997 Academic Press.