A multi-gene phylogeny of aquiline eagles (Aves: Accipitriformes) reveals extensive paraphyly at the genus level
Abstract
The phylogeny of the tribe Aquilini (eagles with fully feathered tarsi) was investigated using 4.2 kb of DNA sequence of one mitochondrial (cyt b) and three nuclear loci (RAG-1 coding region, LDH intron 3, and adenylate-kinase intron 5). Phylogenetic signal was highly congruent and complementary between mtDNA and nuclear genes. In addition to single-nucleotide variation, shared deletions in nuclear introns supported one basal and two peripheral clades within the Aquilini. Monophyly of the Aquilini relative to other birds of prey was confirmed. However, all polytypic genera within the tribe, Spizaetus, Aquila, Hieraaetus, turned out to be non-monophyletic. Old World Spizaetus and Stephanoaetus together appear to be the sister group of the rest of the Aquilini. Spizastur melanoleucus and Oroaetus isidori are nested among the New World Spizaetus species and should be merged with that genus. The Old World 'Spizaetus' species should be assigned to the genus Nisaetus (Hodgson, 1836). The sister species of the two spotted eagles (Aquila clanga and Aquila pomarina) is the African Long-crested Eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis). Hieraaetus fasciatus/spilogaster are closest to Aquila verreauxii and should be merged with that genus. Wahlberg's Eagle H. wahlbergi, formerly placed in Aquila, is part of a clade including three small Hieraaetus species (pennatus, ayresii, and morphnoides). The Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is the sister species of the Aquila/Hieraaetus/Lophaetus clade. B…
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The 120 taxon UCE phylogeny strongly supported (Bootstrap Value = 100) the monophyly of Aquila, with Hieraaetus as its sister group.
“Our 120 taxon UCE phylogeny, which included samples from species representing both major main clades of Aquila, and several Hieraaetus species, strongly supported (Bootstrap Value = 100) the monophyly of Aquila, with Hieraaetus as its sister group (similar to Helbig et al., 2005).”
From Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus <i>Accipiter</i> (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) (2025) · cites this paper as Helbig et al., 2005
Cites
LIVEZEY, B. C., & ZUSI, R. L. (2007) · Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society · doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00293.x · Cited by 574 · see citing works
Barker, F. K., Barrowclough, G. F., & Groth, J. G. (2002) · Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1883 · Cited by 377 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Partial sequences were obtained of the nuclear RAG-1 gene (1978 bp) that had previously been used in "deep" phylogenetics of birds (Barker et al., 2001; Groth and Barrowclough, 1999).”
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LIVEZEY, B. C., & ZUSI, R. L. (2007) · Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society · doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00293.x · Cited by 574 · see citing works
Lerner, H. R. L., & Mindell, D. P. (2005) · Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.010 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Mindell, D. P., Fuchs, J., & Johnson, J. A. (2018) · Birds of Prey · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-73745-4_1 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Catanach, T. A., Halley, M. R., & Pirro, S. (2025) · Biological Journal of the Linnean Society · doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blae028 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
- Authors
- Helbig, A. J., Kocum, A., Seibold, I., & Braun, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Universität Greifswald (DE)
- Smithsonian Institution (US)
- Corresponding author
- Helbig, Andreas J.
- ORCID
- Braun, Michael J.
- Venue
- Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-04
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 147-164
- ISSN
- 1055-7903 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1973527995
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 5.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Smithsonian Digital Repository (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Keywords
- Accipitriformes, phylogeny, paraphyly, Aquila, Polemaetus bellicosus, plumage evolution, intron deletion, cytochrome b, RAG1, lactate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase, raptors, taxonomic revision
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Base Sequence, Feathers, Phylogeny, DNA Primers, Eagles
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