Hello Tweeters,

I'm sorry I didn't write back with the details any sooner, but it took
me a while to find out where I had seen this. The preliminary study was
presented as a paper at the 111th Stated Meeting of the A.O.U., June 10-12,
1993 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

A MOlecular Phylogeny of the Stercorariinae (Laridae: Charadriformes)
Derived from Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Data. H.D. Marshall and A.J. Baker,
Dept. of Ornithology, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario. M5S 2C6.

Currently, classification of the skuas and jaegers is controversial. Most
authors divide them into two genera (_Catharacta_, the large skuas, and
_Stercorarius_, the smaller skuas or jaegers) primarily on the basis of
plumage barring in juveniles. However, two features, long call display and
skeletal dimensions, link the Pomarine Jaeger to the Great Skua, suggesting
that all skuas be placed in one genus. Among the _Catharacta_ skuas morpholo-
gical similarities do not resolve evolutionary relationships: this has resulted
in inconsistent designation of species versus subspecies status in the genus.
Here, in the interest of establishing a robust phylogeny for this group,
1045 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome _b_ gene were collected using the
polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing for four skuas (Great, Falkland,South POlar, and Brown) and three jaegers (Long-tailed, Parasitic and Pomarine). Variable positions numbered 151, and were characterized by a transition/
transversion ratio of 18. Phylogenetically informative positions (92) were
used to construct a most parsimonious phylogeny, with the Red-billed Gull as
an outgroup, and the data were bootstrapped. The results suggest that the
Great Skua and the Pomarine Jaeger are sister taxa, and that they form a
sister clade to a trichotomy including the other three _Catharacta_ skuas.
A sister group to these is formed by the Long-tailed and Parasitic Jaeger.


Dennis, has the phalarope work been published? I would be interested in
finding out more.

Alvaro Jaramillo
jaramill at sfu.ca
Vancouver, B.C.