A Partial Classification of Waterfowl (Anatidae) Based on Single-Copy DNA

Abstract

Abstract Single-copy DNA-DNA hybridization was used to establish phylogenetic relationships among 13 species of waterfowl (Anatidae) chosen from 10 tribes. On the basis of UPGMA clustering of Delta Tm distances, we suggest that the tribes Anatini, Aythyini, Tadornini, Mergini, and Cairinini diverged more recently than the Anserini, Stictonettini, Oxyurini, Dendrocygnini, and Anseranatini. The Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa, tribe Stictonettini) is only distantly related to the other Anatidae. Presumably the lineage diverged very early. The sheldgeese (tribe Tadornini) and the true geese (Anserini) are only remotely related. The Oxyurini, considered to be in the subfamily Anatinae, is remotely related to the other Anatidae. The Dendrocygnini form an isolated tribe with no close relationship to the swans and geese (subfamily Anserinae). We found that the screamers (Anhimidae) are distantly related to the Anatidae. A method to estimate missing cells in a data matrix of pairwise distances is presented.