Molecular systematics of the antbird-ovenbird complex (Aves: Furnariida)

Abstract: This thesis concerns the phylogenetic relationships among suboscine birds with special emphasis on the antbird-ovenbird complex (Aves: Furnariida). The principal aim is to produce a framework for future systematic and comparative studies of suboscines by generating robust phylogenetic hypotheses from DNA-sequence data. Several gene regions, mostly from the nuclear genome, are used in order to get genetically independent estimates of phylogenetic relationships. The study is pioneering in the extensive use of nuclear DNA sequences to resolve passerine relationships.The phylogenetic hypotheses are overall well supported by high nodal support values, and there is an overall good phylogenetic agreement between the different gene regions used. Several existing hypotheses about deeper relationships among New World suboscines based on morphology and DNA-DNA hybridisations are corroborated. In addition, novel hypotheses of relationships within the antbird-ovenbird complex are generated, e.g., a non-monophyletic origin of the ground antbirds, a basal position of the genus Sclerurus in relation to woodcreepers and core-ovenbirds, and a basal position of the genera Terenura, Myrmornis, Pygiptila and Thamnistes in relation to other typical antbirds. Based on the results the current knowledge of systematic relationships among suboscines in general, and within the antbird-ovenbird complex in particular, are summarised and discussed. The thesis also includes discussions of recent methodological developments in avian molecular systematics, the use of morphological characters in phylogenetic reconstruction, and the problem of phylogenetic incongruence between data sets.