Phylogenetic relationships of turacos (Musophagidae; Cuculiformes) based on comparative chromosome banding analysis

Abstract

Cladistic analysis of chromosome banding patterns in nine species of turacos (Musophagidae; Cuculiformes) revealed the existence of two clades, one comprised of species of the genera Tauraco, Gallirex (=Tauraco) and Musophaga, and another of species of Corythaixoides. The results are consistent with the allocation of the former to a subfamily Tauracinae and the allocation of the latter to the subfamily Criniferinae which also includes Crinifer. Comparative C‐banding suggests that the putatively polytypic Tauraco corythaix is occupied by more than one species; more such studies in this group may resolve other questionable cases of conspecificity. Comparison of our results to studies of Cuculidae suggest that they do not share with musophagids two major derived fissions that set musophagids apart from other avian orders. Detailed comparison of ancestral karyotypes from several groups (Galliformes, Cuculidae, Musophagidae and Opisthocomidae) may help to resolve their still unresolved phylogenetic relationships.Our results confirm previous studies showing karyotypic uniformity within avian orders. The uniformity suggests a negligible role for chromosome rearrangement in speciation in this group, since several indisputably distinct species do not differ karyotypically in any significant fashion. Intraspecific uniformity is punctuated by the presence in Livingstone's turaco Tauraco corythaix livingstonii of inversion heteromorphism, the class of rearrangement encountered most frequently in other avian species.