Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) and Hume's Tawny Owl (Strix butleri) Are Distinct Species: Evidence from Nucleotide Sequences of the Cytochrome b Gene

Abstract

The cytochrome b gene of the Tawny Owl (S trix aluco), Hum e's Tawny Owl (Strix butleri) and the A frican wood owl (Strix woodfordii) was am plified by polym erase chain reaction(PC R) and partially sequenced (300 base pairs). Sequences differ substantially (9 to 12% nucleotide substitutions) between these taxa indicating that they represent distinct species, which is also im plicated from m orphological and biogeographic differences. U sing cytochrome b sequences of S. aluco, S. butleri, S. woodfordii, Athene noctua and Tyto alba phylogenetic relationship were reconstructed using the “maxim um parsim ony” principle (PAUP 3.1.1) and the neighbour-joining m ethod (M E G A). © 1994, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.