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Massive bioacoustic analysis suggests introgression across Pleistocene land bridges in Mixornis tit-babblers

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Abstract

Because of complex patterns of Pleistocene land connections across its land masses, the Sundaic region is particularly interesting for studying the mechanisms of biological differentiation. Using an unusually large bioacoustic dataset, we studied patterns of vocal differentiation among populations of the widespread Striped Tit-Babbler Mixornis gularis complex. We demonstrate diagnostic differences in song characteristics between distant populations found on separate landmasses, but we show that these differences emerge as clinal once populations on small, rarely-sampled and geographically intermediate islands are included in the analysis. This pattern suggests bioacoustic clinality among different island members of the complex in contrast to results from previous morphological research. Our vocal data additionally uncover cases of potential erroneous taxon attribution and confirm cases of suggested synonymizations in this complicated species complex. Our study supports calls for the integration of bioacoustic data in evolutionary research and underscores the importance of extensive taxon sampling, especially in archipalegic settings such as Sundaland where numerous geographically intermediate island populations may serve as conduits for gene flow during Pleistocene drops in sea level.

Zusammenfassung

Umfangreiche bioakustische Analyse lässt beim Strichelmeisentimalien-Komplexes auf Introgression über pleistozäne Landbrücken hinweg schließen

Aufgrund der komplexen Muster pleistozäner Verbindungen zwischen ihren Landmassen ist die Sunda-Region besonders interessant, um die Mechanismen biologischer Differenzierung zu studieren. Unter Verwendung eines ungewöhnlich großen bioakustischen Datensatzes untersuchen wir hier die Muster der Vokaldifferenzierung zwischen Populationen des weit verbreiteten Strichelmeisentimalien-Komplexes Mixornis gularis. Wir zeigen diagnostische Unterschiede in Vokaleigenschaften zwischen entfernten Populationen auf getrennten Landmassen auf, aber wir finden ebenso, dass diese Unterschiede sich als klinal herausstellen, wenn Populationen auf kleinen, schlecht erforschten und geographisch zwischengelagerten Inseln in die Analyse miteinbezogen werden. Im Gegensatz zu den Ergebnissen früherer morphologischer Studien weist dieses Muster auf einen bioakustischen Gradienten zwischen verschiedenen Inselmitgliedern dieses Komplexes. Zusätzlich decken unsere bioakustischen Daten Fälle potentiell falscher Taxon-Zuschreibung auf und bestätigen Fälle von früher vorgeschlagenen Synonymisierungen in diesem komplizierten Artenkomplex. Unsere Studie unterstützt den Appell zur Integration bioakustischer Daten in der Evolutionsforschung und unterstreicht die Wichtigkeit von weit umfassender Miteinbeziehung von Arten insbesondere in inselweiten Studien, wie z. B. in Sundaland, wo zahlreiche geographisch zwischengelagerte Insel-Populationen als Vektoren für Genfluss während pleistozäner Meeresspiegelsenkungen dienen können.

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Acknowledgements

We thank NSR Ng, EYX Ng, K Garg, and B Chattopadhyay for feedback on the manuscript. This work was funded by National University of Singapore start-up funds from the Faculty of Sciences (R-154-000-570-133) and from the Department of Biological Sciences (R-154-000-583-651) as well as from a Singapore Ministry of Education Tier I grant (R-154-000-658-112). We would like to thank Bas van Balen and David Edwards for providing sound recordings. We also would like to thank the recordists contributing to the London Sound Library and to all online sound libraries consulted for this study: http://www.xeno-canto.org, http://www.avocet.zoology.msu.edu, http://www.macaulaylibrary.org. We are also grateful to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (Singapore) for giving us access to their collection. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore

    Emilie Cros & Frank E. Rheindt

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  1. Emilie Cros
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Correspondence to Frank E. Rheindt.

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Communicated by M. Naguib.

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Cros, E., Rheindt, F.E. Massive bioacoustic analysis suggests introgression across Pleistocene land bridges in Mixornis tit-babblers. J Ornithol 158, 407–419 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1411-x

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