The role of glaciations in the evolutionary history of a widely distributed Neotropical open habitat bird

Aim: The Neotropics constitute the most biodiverse region of the world, yet its patterns of diversification and speciation differ among Neotropical areas and are not equally well understood. Particularly, avian evolutionary processes are understudied in the open habitats of temperate South America, where the role of glacial cycles is not clear. We analyzed the evolutionary history of a Neotropical widespread bird species as a case study to evaluate its continental-scale patterns and processes of diversification, with a focus on Patagonia.
Location: Open habitats of the Neotropics.
Taxon: Vanellus chilensis (Aves, Charadriiformes).
Methods: We obtained reduced representation genomic and mitochondrial data from the four subspecies of V. chilensis to perform a phylogenetic/phylogeographic analysis and study the evolutionary history of the species. We complemented these analyses with the study of vocalizations, a reproductive signal in birds.
Results: The initial diversification event withi...