Phylogeny and biogeographical history of Trogoniformes, a pantropical bird order

2005/03/21 by Robert G. Moyle · 4 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Plant Diversity and Evolution

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00435.x

openalex publication_date 2005/03/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

With highly conserved morphology throughout the family, a tropical distribution, and no close living relatives, the trogons (Aves: Trogonidae) pose a difficult problem for systematists. Disjunct tropical distributions are often attributed to Gondwanan vicariance, but the fossil record for trogons is mostly from the Tertiary of Europe. This study examined support for the basal relationships among trogons using a combination of nuclear (RAG-1) and mitochondrial (ND2) DNA sequence data. Although some nodes could not be resolved with significant support, there is strong support for the basal position of three New World genera (Pharomachrus, Euptilotis, and Priotelus). This phylogenetic hypothesis differs markedly from previous studies of trogon relationships and taxonomic treatments. Biogeographically, it implies an origin and early vicariance events for the crown clade in the New World. Molecular divergence estimates place all of the basal nodes of the trogon phylogeny in the Oligocene, precluding a Gondwanan origin for modern trogons.

Citations

• An Empirical Test of Bootstrapping as a Method for Assessing Confidence in Phylogenetic Analysis
• Maximum likelihood inference of protein phylogeny and the origin of chloroplasts
• CONFIDENCE LIMITS ON PHYLOGENIES: AN APPROACH USING THE BOOTSTRAP
• Avian evolution, Gondwana biogeography and the Cretaceous–Tertiary mass extinction event
• A phylogenetic hypothesis for passerine birds: taxonomic and biogeographic implications of an analysis of nuclear DNA sequence data
• Maximum likelihood phylogenetic estimation from DNA sequences with variable rates over sites: Approximate methods
• Molecular support for a sister group relationship between Pici and Galbulae (Piciformes sensu Wetmore 1960)
• An Approximately Unbiased Test of Phylogenetic Tree Selection
• Phylogenetic Relationships among the Trogons

Cited by

• Rapid Laurasian diversification of a pantropical bird family during the Oligocene–Miocene transition
• Phylogeny of “core Gruiformes” (Aves: Grues) and resolution of the Limpkin–Sungrebe problem
• Orange-breasted trogon [wikipedia]
• Trogon [wikipedia]