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A Molecular Evaluation Of The North American “Grassland” Sparrow Clade, John Klicka, Garth M. Spellman
A Molecular Evaluation Of The North American “Grassland” Sparrow Clade, John Klicka, Garth M. Spellman
Ornithology Program (HRC)
Because they share several morphological and ecological characters, the North American sparrow (Emberizidae) genera Ammodramus, Passerculus, and Xenospiza have historically been considered members of a well-defined “grassland” sparrow assemblage. Relationships among the 11 members of this group have been the subject of much taxonomic debate, yet no comprehensive molecular assessment of relationships has been done. We investigated these relationships using mitochondrial DNA sequence data that included complete cytochrome-b and ND2 genes. Phylogenetic reconstructions derived via parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian methods were congruent. The grassland sparrows, as presently configured, are polyphyletic. Pooecetes gramineus, Amphispiza belli (but not A. …