AAAS/CARLA SCHAFFERThe genomes of a staggering 45 bird species have been sequenced, analyzed, compared, and published today (December 11) in a collection of eight Science papers—with additional online at BioMed Central. This mammoth project brings the total number of completed avian genomes to just over 50, of which 48 have now been computationally aligned and evaluated to create the most accurate avian evolutionary tree to date.
“The relationships of modern birds have proved very hard to disentangle, and they are still much debated. The new work provides the first authoritative, consensual resolution of the problem,” wrote vertebrate paleontologist Mike Benton of the University of Bristol, who was not involved in the project, in an email to The Scientist. “The key to the new endeavor is that these studies are based on whole genome analyses, whereas previous phylogenomic efforts have used selected genes only.”
The most likely reason that branches of the avian evolutionary tree have been so muddled, according to neurobiology professor Erich Jarvis of Duke University Medical Center, who helped lead the project, is that “birds basically underwent a rapid radiation of speciation soon after the mass extinction of dinosaurs.” ...
