Morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies of zosteropidae in Malaysia

Nor Salmizar, Azmi. (2011) Morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies of zosteropidae in Malaysia. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

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Abstract

Zosteropidae which consists of approximately 80 similar looking species with large range of distribution, is a classic example of a great speciator. They spread over mainland of Africa, Asia, Australia, and also on the islands of Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Melanesia and part of Micronesia. All species in this family have white feathers resembling a ring around their eyes except certain species such as Mountain blackeye (Chlorocharis emiliae) and Bonin white-eye (Apalopteron familiare) which have black feathers around their eyes. There are five species of Zosteropidae found in Malaysia; (I) Zosterops palpebrosa, (2) Zosterops atricapilla, (3) Zosterops everetti, (4) Oculocincta squamifrons, and (5) Chlorocharis emiliae. However, only three species (Zosterops atricapilla, Zosterops palpebrosa and Chlorocharis emiliae) were analyzed in this study due to lack of samples from the other two species. The main focus of this study was to investigate the taxonomic status between species and subspecies in Zosteropidae by using both morphological and genetic analysis. Eight sampling sites identified as distributional range of Zosteropidae were included in this study; (1) Mt. Kinabalu, (2) Mt. Trus Madi, (3) Mt. Murud, (4) Mt. Mulu, (5) Maligan Range, (6) Pueh Range, (7) Bukit Jelutong Dua (8) Kg. Santubong and Kuching Wetland. The aims of morphological study were to determine which characteristic that can separate them morphologically and to test the reliability of multivariate and cluster analysis in separating them. Molecular analysis was done in order to address the phylogenetic relationship among the species by using three different genes; Cytochrome Oxidase I (COl), Cytochrome b (Cyt b) and Control Region (CR) and to determine the genetic differences between species and populations from different habitats such as mountain and lowland areas.

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