[obol] DNA bar coding... or, Mary Anne gets her wish

[Greg Gillson]

The latest issue of The Birding Community E-bulletin - April 2007 has  
a brief article on a new DNA technique called DNA bar coding.

This new (and, likely, controversial) technique sounds fast and less  
expensive than other DNA techniques, and leads to some interesting  
possible splits and lumps.

Mary Anne's call to "lump larids!" gets overwhelming support from DNA  
bar coding. Nearly all large gulls would be lumped: California,  
Herring, Thayer's, Iceland, Lesser Black-backed, Western,  
Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gull. While this may make Mary Anne  
happy, she would have to be prepared to "sacrifice" other species,  
lumping such birds as Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teal, Townsend's and  
Hermit Warbler, and Golden and White-crowned Sparrows.

However, we'd get even more Scrub Jays, Warbling Vireos, Winter Wrens,  
and Ravens.

Here are the details:

"Look-alike taxa representing 15 potential "splits" include Northern  
Fulmar, Solitary Sandpiper, Western Screech-Owl, Warbling Vireo,  
Mexican Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee,  
Bushtit, Winter Wren, Marsh Wren, Bewick's Wren, Hermit Thrush,  
Curve-billed Thrasher, and Eastern Meadowlark."

"The "lumps" of "virtually identical" taxa potentially include: Snow  
Goose and Ross's Goose; Black, Mallard and Mottled Duck; Blue-winged  
and Cinnamon Teal; King and Common Eider; Western and Clark's Grebe;  
Laughing and Franklin's Gull; California, Herring, Thayer's, Iceland,  
Lesser Black-backed, Western, Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gull;  
Red-naped and Red-breasted Sapsucker; Black-billed and Yellow-billed  
Magpie; American and Northwestern Crow; Townsend's and Hermit Warbler;  
Golden-crowned and White-crowned Sparrow; Dark-eyed and Yellow-eyed  
Junco; Snow and McKay's Bunting; Great-tailed and Boat-tailed Grackle;  
  and Common and Hoary Redpoll."

Previous issues of The Birding Community E-bulletin are online at:
http://www.refugenet.org/birding/birding5.html

Greg Gillson
Hillsboro, Oregon
greg at thebirdguide.com
http://thebirdguide.com