A molecular approach to the taxonomy and biogeography of African parrots

Abstract

Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of blood samples from eight African parrot species was performed to study the genetic relationship within the genus Poicephalus and among Poi‐cephalus and the two other main African parrot genuses, Agapornis and Psittacus. To this end, DNA from six Poicephalus species, one species, of the Agapornis group and the single Psittacus species was analysed. The amplification pattern was then converted into a binary matrix and scored by the unweighted pair‐group method algorithm. The resulting dendrogram showed a neat separation of all the Poicephalus on one side, from Psittacus‐Agapornis on the other side. Among the six analysed species of Poicephalus, two larger clusters occurred, one containing four species belonging to the P. meyeri superspecies and the other one containing the two species pertaining to the P. robustus superspecies. The larger one of these is further subdivided in two smaller clusters, each one containing two species, that is P. meyeri‐P. cryptoxanthus and P. senegalus‐P. rufiventris, respectively. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the genus Poicephalus is a natural assemblage that, after undergoing a very early separation from Psittacus and Agapornis, was subsequently affected by a number of discrete speciation events, especially during episodes of aridity resulting in fragmentation of forest habitats.