Multiple Gene Study of Diversification in Woodpeckers

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9726512 Moore Recent advances in molecular biology made it possible to study in much greater detail not only the history of biological diversity but the genetic, ecological and geological processes that produce biological diversity. The number of species of birds is higher in South America than in other regions of the world. This research by William Moore focuses on two groups of woodpeckers that serve as paradigms for studying the origin of avian diversity in South America. The groups are the genus Colaptes (flickers) and the closely related genus Piculus. Preliminary evidence suggests that the ancetors of these groups entered South America from North America when the Isthmus of Panama was formed approximately 3 - 3.5 million years ago. The subsequent proliferation of species appears to be closely associated with the formation of the Andes Mountains approximately 2 million years ago. Speciation was associated with dramatic changes in the ecological adaptations of new species; for example, forest dwelling species giving rise to grassland species. Dr. Moore will reconstruct a phylogeny for these groups based on DNA sequences from mitochondrial genes and introns from nuclear genes. These sequences mutate at rates that are useful for reconstructing the genetic history of groups of organisms that are up to 20 million years old. The phylogeny will be used as a framework upon which a better understanding of how and when species formed in these groups and obtained their morphological, ecological and behavioral characteristics.