Cardinalis cardinalis Genome sequencing and assembly. Cardinalis cardinalis

Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are common, mid-sized passerines widely distributed in North America. As an iconic species with strong sexual dichromatism, it has been the focus of extensive ecological and evolutionary research, yet genomic studies investigating the evolution of genotype-phenotype association of plumage coloration and dichromatism are lacking. This draft genome of C. cardinalis provides an important resource for future studies of ecological, evolutionary, and functional genomics in cardinals and other birds.