A presentation today by University of Aberdeen PhD student Thom Shannon via the International Shorebird Twitter Conference 2020 (organised by the British Trust for Ornithology and International Wader Study Group) includes the following:
"Using biometrics, Greater Sand Plover is clearly separable from Lesser. However, based on breeding plumage & breeding range, Lesser can be further split into two groups: 'atrifrons' & 'mongolus'. It has been suggested that these two may be incipient species." ...
"For this study samples were taken from the wintering/staging sites of Bar Al Hickman, Oman & Mai Po Marshes, Hong Kong. These were then supplemented with sequences from Genbank. We analysed 5 mitochondrial & 6 nuclear loci to create a robust phylogeny."
Link to presentation: https://twitter.com/comicterns/status/1 ... 3526609921
Link to graphic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjzWqXnWoAA ... name=large
Link to map of breeding ranges and sampling locations: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjzW6w4WAAE ... name=large
Link to phylogeny: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EjzXG71X0AE ... name=large
Two species of Lesser Sand Plover?
- Michael Szabo
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Two species of Lesser Sand Plover?
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