A Preliminary Phylogenetic Hypothesis for the Cotingas (Cotingidae) Based on Mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

The cotingas (Cotingidae) are a diverse family of Neotropical suboscines that are thought to be closely related to manakins (Pipridae) and tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) in the superfamily Tyrannoidea (Lanyon 1985; McKitrick 1985; Sibley and Ahlquist 1985, 1990; Prum 1990). The cotingas include species with a great variety of plumages, breeding systems, and ecologies, and they exhibit the largest range in body size of any passerine family (Snow 1982). Understanding the evolutionary history of variation in these traits requires a corroborated phylogenetic hypotheses for the group. Toward this goal, we have conducted a preliminary molecular phylogenetic analysis to identify the major cotinga clades and reconstruct their interrelationships. Modern phylogenetic studies of the cotingas have included five analyses of morphological and molecular data. Some cotingas were included in phylogenetic studies based on allozyme electrophoresis (Lanyon 1985) and DNA-DNA hybridization (Sibley and Ahlquist 1985, 1990; Sibley et al. 1985). Furthermore, Prum (1990) performed a test of the monophyly of the cotingas based on morphology. Prum and Lanyon (1989) did a phylogenetic analysis of the Schiffornis group based on morphology, and Lanyon and Lanyon (1988) analyzed the relationships among the genera of the Phytotoma group using morphology and allozyme electrophoresis. Here, we analyze data from sequences of mitochondrial DNA from individuals of 32 cotinga species in 26 genera and 7 outgroup taxa. Monophyly of cotingas.—First recognized in nearly its modern form by Sclater (1888), the Cotingidae has varied somewhat in taxonomic composition over the last century (Ridgway 1907; Hellmayr 1929; Snow 1979, 1982). Garrod (1876) first recognized the close relationship between manakins and cotingas based on the presence of an enlarged femoral artery. Prum (1990) established that the majority of cotingas and manakins possess the derived femoral artery condi-