We assessed the mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence of a 718 bp frag
ment of the control region and 1007 bp of the cytochrome b gene betwee
n two allopatric morphologically different subspecies of bluethroat (L
uscinia svecica). None of the 17 total haplotypes was shared between L
. s. namnetum and L. s. svecica. However, the mean distances between s
ubspecies were very low for both fragments (0.00168 +/- 0.00001 (mean
+/- SE) for the control region; 0.00306 +/- 0.00016 for the cytochrome
b gene). Only one substitution made the two subspecies genetically di
fferentiated, highlighting their recent divergence. Interestingly, the
control region was not more variable than the cytochrome b gene.