The Founding Feathers: the true ancestry of the domestic Barbary Dove

In 2008 the ICZN ruled that the name risoria Linnaeus, 1758 should have priority for both African Collared Dove and its domestic form, Barbary Dove, as it is senior to roseogrisea Sundevall, 1857. Some ignored the ruling in the belief that the ancestry of Barbary Dove is still unproven. Given the lack of a name-bearing specimen and in anticipation of the ICNZ's decision, in 2008 a neotype was designated for S. risoria. To clarify the taxonomic status of roseogrisea, as the original type series was mixed, in 2018 a neotype was designated of this junior synonym of African Collared Dove. As the species was assumed to be polytypic, the synonymisation for roseogrisea with risoria at species level was questioned afterwards. To settle these matters, a whole genome resequencing-based study was conducted. The results show that African Collared Dove is the principal ancestor of Barbary Dove, and that the species is monotypic.