Abstract
Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius is an apparently sedentary sub-Saharan species with a breeding range extending from Senegal and Mauritania to Sudan. Although genetic studies of nightjars and related Caprimulgiformes have been published previously, none has included Golden Nightjar. In this study, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of a Golden Nightjar found dead in Western Sahara in April 2016 was sequenced and compared with other species in the genus Caprimulgus. It was concluded with strong support that Golden Nightjar is closely related to Egyptian Nightjar C. aegyptius. It is hypothesised that Golden and Egyptian Nightjars may have arisen by splitting of a single ancestral species into migratory and sedentary populations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 281-286 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology |
| Volume | 88 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 15 Feb 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsYL performed this research as part of her MSc (Genetics) at the University of Aberdeen, whose support is acknowledged. We thank the reviewers whose helpful comments substantially improved the paper.
Keywords
- Caprimulgus aegyptius
- Caprimulgus eximius
- Golden Nightjar
- taxonomy
- molecular phylogeny
- Nubian Nightjar
- Caprimulgus nubicus
- molecular sexing
- systematics
- Western Sahara
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Jon Collinson
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition, Medical Sciences - Personal Chair
Person: Academic