© J Bates ©

Scale-backed Antbird
Hylophylax poecilinota

Warbling Antbird
Hypocnemis cantator

White-flanked Antwren
Myrmotherula axillaris

Spot-winged Antbird
Percnostola leucostigma

White-shouldered Antshrike
Thamnophilus aethiops

Madagascar:

Ground-rollers
Atelornis sps.
Brachypteracias sps.

Madagascar Nightjar
Caprimulgus madagascariensis

Madagascar Magpie-robin
Copsychus albospecularis

Greenbuls
Cryptosylvicola randrianasoloi
Phyllastrephus sps.

Fodies
Foudia sps.

Sunbirds
Nectarinia sps.

Sunbird-asities
Neodrepanis sps.

Jeries
Neomixis sps.

Asities
Philepitta sps.

Madagascar Brush-wabler
Nesillas typica

Malagasy Scops-owl
Otus rutilus

Weavers
Ploceus sps.

Stonechat
Saxicola torquata

Hoopoe
Upupa epops

Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher
Terpsiphone mutata

Objectives:
Our research focus program documents genetic diversity in tropical birds in order to better understand the evolutionary history of the most diverse habitats on the planet.  We gather DNA sequence data because the DNA sequences are the actual blue prints for the organisms we study. The patterns of divergence that we document can provide valuable data for setting conservation priorities (e.g., Bates and Demos 2001). We use comparative approaches including looking at multiple species from the same region and looking at taxa from multiple regions to better understand how ecological traits have shaped helped genetic structure and how the avifaunas of different regions have evolved. The comparative data sets from different regions can uncover important patterns that may be general to communities. Because such approaches can be applied to any taxa, the research projects of graduate students focus on birds, but also on additional tropical animals such as Philippine fruit bats, Amazonian primates and frogs of the Atlantic forests of Brazil.

Amazonia:
Our research on Amazonian antbirds is focused on documenting and understanding patterns of genetic differentiation and the evolutionary history of the region and to investigate how patterns of genetic differentiation correspond to patterns of differentiation in other character sets. We have worked to document genetic diversity in five co-distributed avian lineages and are examining multiple character sets for establishing species limits and estimating phylogenetic relationships. These lineages are from a diverse Neotropical bird family, the Thamnophilidae. Each lineage occurs throughout the Amazon Basin. In addition to molecuar data we are working with collaborators to gather morphological and vocal characters. Morphological studies of Neotropical birds have been limited almost entirely to descriptive studies, and morphological data have rarely been analyzed for phylogenetic patterns. For birds in general, morphological characters are often thought to be the result of adaptation to local ecological conditions, but this is based primarily on studies of migratory temperate zone birds; few studies have been conducted on Neotropical taxa. Vocalizations of suboscine passeriform birds, such as antbirds, are thought to be innate, and therefore key characters in determining species limits, but vocal characters also have not been assessed in a phylogenetic framework. A unique aspect of our project is the detailed examination of vocal characters and their contributions to estimating phylogenies. The data and the phylogenies generated are also being used in assessing conservation priorities, biogeographic analyses of South American Amazonian lowlands, and for investigating neutral evolution in avian mitochondrial DNA.

Madagascar:
Madagascar is well known for its high endemicity. While lemurs are certainly the best known group of the endemic groups of animals, there are many endemic bird also. These include wonderfully distinct and endemic lineages such as the Ground-rollers, Vangas, Mesites and Asities as well as distinct members of more broadly distributed lineages such as sunbirds and weavers. We have been addressing the origins of the Malagasy avifauna using molecular data, but our primary interest is to understand the structure of genetic diversity within species of Malagasy birds. As a result of the wonderful specimen-based inventory work that Steve Goodman and his Malagasy colleagues have conducted throughout the country over the last ten years, we have been able to gather extensive data sets on population structure for some twenty species of Malagasy birds including members of many of the endemic lineages. Madagascar spans a latitudinal range that is equal to the entire length of California with a dry desert-like western side and humid forest on the eastern side. These broadly distributed habitats coupled with the long isolation of the island make it a fascinating region to study comparative evolution in birds at the genetic level. These studies will shed light on the history of Madagascar from an avian perspective and the data will be valuable to conservation biologists trying to conserve distinct regions of the country.