DNA-DNA HYBRIDIZATION EVIDENCE FOR SUBFAMILY STRUCTURE AMONG HUMMINGBIRDS

We used DNA-DNA hybridization to determine large-scale phylogenetic structure among hummingbirds (Trochilidae). Analyses of complete matrices of DELTAT(m) and DELTAT(mode) statistics among eight hummingbird genera and a swift generated the same fully resolved topology, which bootstrapping and jackknifing analyses supported at the 100% level. The data are consistent with monophyly for the traditional hermit (Phaethornithinae) and non-hermit (Trochilinae) subfamilies, and with placement of the hermitlike Tooth-billed Hummingbird (Androdon aequatorialis) and Green-fronted Lancebill (Doryfera ludoviciae) among trochilines. Among the trochilines examined, D. ludoviciae is more closely related to the Sparkling Violet-ear (Colibri coruscans) than to A. aequatorialis, and the Collared Inca (Coeligena torquata) is the sister group to these three. Among the hermits examined, the White-tipped Sicklebill (Eutoxeres aquila) represents the first branch, followed by the White-whiskered Hermit (Phaethornis yaruqui), and the closely related Bronzy Hermit (Glaucis aenea) and Bandtailed Barbthroat (Threnetes ruckeri). Evolutionary rate estimates from DELTAT(m) trees corrected for nonadditivity indicate significant rate variation among lineages. Calibration of divergence times with the earliest-known fossil swift suggests that the diverse Andean radiation of trochilines is comprised of at least two lineages (C. torquata, D. ludoviciae/C. coruscans) whose origins date to a period of uplift during the mid-Miocene.