Two sympatric lineages of the Raven Corvus corax jordansi coexist on the Eastern Canary Islands

Abstract

Recently, based on genetic analysis, a distinct lineage of the Northern Raven has been described and assigned to the subspecies Corvus corax tingitanus on the Canary Islands. However, all sampled birds originated from only one island of the archipelago (Fuerteventura). We revisited the issues of ravens on the Canary Islands and collected additional samples from other Canarian Islands as well as from other populations in Northern Africa and Europe. Using mitochondrial DNA (control region, cytb), our samples confirmed the occurrence of a distinct lineage on two eastern islands of the archipelago. However, on other islands, we found specimens that did not belong to the Canarian lineage but were closely related to birds from Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean islands. We found that on at least one of these islands the Canarian and the Holarctic lineages coexist. The distribution patterns of the genetically distinct Canarian lineage match the subspecies C.c.jordansi, which was previously described by morphological characters such as small size and brownish feathers. We suggest that the distinct mtDNA lineage (C. c. tingitanus) and the morphologically described subspecies C. c. jordansi from the Eastern Canary Islands refer to the same population and recommend dropping the name C. c. tingitanus.