Skip to content

SciTech

Bird speciations made clear

by Dave Armstrong 01 Jan 2014
Bird speciations made clear

Gooseberries could be on the menu later for what seems now to be 2 species of lesser whitethroat. They feed their nestlings on insects, mainly; lesser whitethroat image; Credit: © Shutterstock

Cytochromes in our mitochondria are not only for respiration. The COI gene governs the oxidases and acts as a marker for identification of many animal species, used especially in birds. DNA barcoding for a species has been the handy result for a decade. Using 387 specimens from 141 Dutch species, bird evolution has been observed over many different groups.

The species tended to diverge by 9.54 % on average. With tiny 0.29% divergence within any one species. Most species were able to have unique barcodes, apart from some related gull species and skuas. The whole of the Netherlands bird fauna were barcoded, apart from the 5% that couldn't be sampled. While the barcoding derived from a small piece of one mitochondrial DNA sequence can't be regarded as the answer for all researchers, the utility is undeniable. All samples were collected by the Museum as a matter of course as they carried out business as normal, so little extra labour was necessary.

Mansour Aliabadian from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and his colleagues from The University of Amsterdam, the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and Oxford Brookes University present their paper in in ZooKeys.

Their efforts are far from being in vain. They proved here that a small bird population can simple be checked and new species or combination of old species together is hinted at by the data. The two sub-species of Sylvia curruca, for example, have been proved several times now to look like separate species. They are little warblers known as lesser whitethroats.

There were 8 groups with similar barcodes to each other, including 7 Larus gull species groups and 2 skua, Stercorarius species The gulls are well-known to have speciated recently around the Arctic.

It seems the taxonomy of the world's birds will be the first to be completely checked by "barcoding." How important is that for rare and sadly almost-extinct species. We only know what we've lost when it's gone, so in this way, we will know the full cost of our careless lack of conservation.


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
£38.00
£38.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
Lightning Bolt kids eco-friendly long sleeve t-shirtSize Guide Centimeters 3-4yrs 5-6yrs 7-8yrs 9-10yrs 11-12yrs Height 98 112 125 136 147 Chest 60 66 70 75 84 Chest: Measure all around your chest just below your armpits. Height: Your natural height If you fall between...
£18.00
£18.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Earth
Quick Add
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Union Jack Tote Bag
Union Jack eco-friendly colour tote bagProduct Specification Organic Cotton Tote Bag. Twill Weave (170gsm). 37 x 42 cm (7cm gusset.) Made in India / Designed on the Isle of Wight. Wash Cool, Hang Dry.
£16.00
£16.00
Close
Notify me
Notify me
Prev Post
Next Post

Eco-Friendly Shop

Women's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Women Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable women’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Men's Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothing for Men Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable men’s clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, shorts, and...
Shop Now

Kids Clothing

Eco-Friendly Clothes for Kids Our online shop offers a wide range of sustainable kids clothing products, including t-shirts, hoodies and jumpers. Our garments...
Shop Now
Someone recently bought a
[time] ago, from [location]

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Earth Times
Sign up for exclusive updates, new arrivals & insider only discounts

Recently Viewed

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Before you leave...

Take 20% off your first order

20% off

Enter the code below at checkout to get 20% off your first order

CODESALE20

Continue Shopping