David P. Mindell Sandra L. Talbot Emily H. Kay Hopi E. Hoekstra Holly B. Ernest Joshua M. Hull 2010 <h4>Background</h4> <p>Phenotypic and molecular genetic data often provide conflicting patterns of intraspecific relationships confounding phylogenetic inference, particularly among birds where a variety of environmental factors may influence plumage characters. Among diurnal raptors, the taxonomic relationship of&nbsp;<em>Buteo jamaicensis harlani&nbsp;</em>to other&nbsp;<em>B. jamaicensis&nbsp;</em>subspecies has been long debated because of the polytypic nature of the plumage characteristics used in subspecies or species designations.</p> <h4>Results</h4> <p>To address the evolutionary relationships within this group, we used data from 17 nuclear microsatellite loci, 430 base pairs of the mitochondrial control region, and 829 base pairs of the melanocortin 1 receptor (<em>Mc1r</em>) to investigate molecular genetic differentiation among three&nbsp;<em>B. jamaicensis&nbsp;</em>subspecies (<em>B. j. borealis</em>,&nbsp;<em>B. j. calurus</em>,&nbsp;<em>B. j. harlani</em>). Bayesian clustering analyses of nuclear microsatellite loci showed no significant differences between&nbsp;<em>B. j. harlani&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>B. j. borealis</em>. Differences observed between&nbsp;<em>B. j. harlani&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>B. j. borealis&nbsp;</em>in mitochondrial and microsatellite data were equivalent to those found between morphologically similar subspecies,&nbsp;<em>B. j. borealis&nbsp;</em>and<em>B. j. calurus</em>, and estimates of migration rates among all three subspecies were high. No consistent differences were observed in&nbsp;<em>Mc1r&nbsp;</em>data between&nbsp;<em>B. j. harlani&nbsp;</em>and other&nbsp;<em>B. jamaicensis&nbsp;</em>subspecies or between light and dark color morphs within&nbsp;<em>B. j. calurus</em>, suggesting that&nbsp;<em>Mc1r&nbsp;</em>does not play a significant role in&nbsp;<em>B. jamaicensis&nbsp;</em>melanism.</p> <h4>Conclusions</h4> <p>These data suggest recent interbreeding and gene flow between&nbsp;<em>B. j. harlani&nbsp;</em>and the other&nbsp;<em>B. jamaicensis&nbsp;</em>subspecies examined, providing no support for the historical designation of&nbsp;<em>B. j. harlani&nbsp;</em>as a distinct species.</p> application/pdf 10.1186/1471-2148-10-224 en BioMed Central Ltd. Population structure and plumage polymorphism: the intraspecific evolutionary relationships of a polymorphic raptor, <i>Buteo jamaicensis harlani</i> article