The mitochondrial and nuclear genetic homogeneity of the phenotypically diverse Darwin's ground finches

Abstract

The most extensively studied group of Darwin's finches is the genus Geospiza, the ground finches, and yet little is known about the evolutionary history and genetic relationships of these birds. Studies using either allozyme or morphological data have been unable to resolve relationships between the six species and numerous populations of ground finches. In this paper we report the results of a study using mitochondrial control region and nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 sequence data. The differentiation of the ground finch species based on morphological data is not reflected in either mitochondrial or nuclear DNA sequence phylogenies. Furthermore, there is little concordance between the mitochondrial haplotypes and ITS alleles found within individuals. We suggest that the absence of species-specific lineages can be attributed to ongoing hybridization involving all six species of Geospiza. There are no long term selective pressures against hybridization within this genus, and therefore a genetically homogenous genus may be maintained indefinitely. Hybridization has apparently played a role in the adaptive radiation of Darwin's finches.