Blackwell Publishing Ltd Phylogenetic relationships among Palearctic–Oriental starlings and mynas (genera Sturnus and Acridotheres: Sturnidae) DARIO

Zuccon, D., Pasquet, E. & Ericson, P. G. P. (2008). Phylogenetic relationships among

Palearctic–Oriental starlings and mynas (genera Sturnus and Acridotheres: Sturnidae). — Zoologica

Scripta, 37, 469–481.

We used nuclear and mitochondrial genes to generate a phylogenetic hypothesis for the

Palearctic–Oriental starlings and mynas (genera Sturnus, Acridotheres, Leucopsar, Creatophora

and Fregilupus: Sturnidae). Our results indicate that the group has undergone a rapid diversification

in Asia since the late Miocene. A reassessment of the morphological and ecological characters

used in previous taxonomic revisions shows that all characters are highly homoplastic. We suggest

that the elevated morphological and ecological plasticity favoured the adaptation of starlings

and mynas to the local environment, the exploitation of all niches and their successful radiation

in south-east Asia. Under the current limits the genera Sturnus and Acridotheres are not monophyletic, and we propose a revised phylogenetic taxonomy for the entire clade. We confirm

that the extinct Fregilupus varius is a starling and it colonized Réunion Island (Mascarenes) by

transoceanic dispersal from Asia.

Corresponding author: Dario Zuccon, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell’Uomo, Università

di Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy, and Molecular Systematics Laboratory, Swedish

Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: dario.zuccon@nrm.se

Eric Pasquet, UMR5202, Origine, Structure et Evolution de la Biodiversité, Département Systématique

et Evolution, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 55 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France, and

Service Commun de Systématique Moléculaire, IFR CNRS 101, Muséum National d’Histoire

Naturelle, 43 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France. E-mail: pasquet@mnhn.fr

Per G. P. Ericson, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box

50007, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: per.ericson@nrm.se