Genomic data resolves gene tree discordance in spiderhunters (Nectariniidae, Arachnothera)

Reduced representation genomic sequencing methods efficiently gather sequence data from thousands of loci throughout the genome. These data can be used to test previous phylogenetic hypotheses produced from limited numbers of mitochondrial and nuclear loci that often reveal intriguing, but conflicting results. In this paper, we use phylogenomic data to revisit recent molecular phylogenetic work that clarified many taxonomic relationships within spiderhunters, but also questioned monophyly of this distinctive genus of sunbirds (AVES: Nectariniidae; Arachnothera). DNA sequence data were produced by target-capture sequencing of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) to infer the evolutionary history of 11 species of Arachnothera and six outgroups, including the Purple-naped Sunbird (Hypogramma hypogrammicum), which previous work suggested might lie within Arachnothera. Although we recovered many different gene tree topologies, concatenated and coalescent methods of analysis converged on a species tree that strongly supports the monophyly of Arachnothera, with Hypogramma as its sister taxon.