Inter-generic relationships of the crows, jays, magpies and allied groups (Aves: Corvidae) based on nucleotide sequence data

Phylogenetic relationships were studied based on DNA sequences obtained from all recognized genera of the family Corvidae sensu stricto. The aligned data set consists 2589 bp obtained from one mitochondrial and two nuclear genes. Maximum parsimony, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian inference analyses were used to estimate phylogenetic relationships. The analyses were done for each gene separately, as well as for all genes combined. An analysis of a taxonomically expanded data set of cytochrome b sequences was performed in order to infer the phylogenetic positions of six genera for which nuclear genes could not be obtained. Monophyly of the Corvidae is supported by all analyses, as well as by the occurrence of a deletion of 16 bp in the beta-fibrinogen intron in all ingroup taxa. Temnurus and Pyrrhocorax are placed as the sister group to all other corvids, while Cissa and Urocissa appear as the next clade inside them. Further up in the tree, two larger and well-supported clades of genera were recovered by the analyses. One has an entirely New World distribution (the New World jays), while the other includes mostly Eurasian (and one African) taxa. Outside these two Major clades are Qlanopica and Perisoreus whose phylogenetic positions could not be determined by the present data. A biogeographic analysis of our data suggests that the Corvidae underwent an initial radiation in Southeast Asia. This is consistent with the observation that almost all basal clades in the phylogenetic tree consist of species adapted to tropical and subtropical forest habitats.