The taxonomic position and breeding range of Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius (Caprimulgidae)

Yvonne Lawrie, Robert Swann, Peter Stronach, Yoav Perlman, J Martin Collinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
23 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius is an apparently sedentary sub-Saharan species with a breeding range extending from Senegal and Mauritania to Sudan. Although genetic studies of nightjars and related Caprimulgiformes have been published previously, none has included Golden Nightjar. In this study, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of a Golden Nightjar found dead in Western Sahara in April 2016 was sequenced and compared with other species in the genus Caprimulgus. It was concluded with strong support that Golden Nightjar is closely related to Egyptian Nightjar C. aegyptius. It is hypothesised that Golden and Egyptian Nightjars may have arisen by splitting of a single ancestral species into migratory and sedentary populations.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)281-286
Number of pages6
JournalOstrich: Journal of African Ornithology
Volume88
Issue number3
Early online date15 Feb 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
YL performed this research as part of her MSc (Genetics) at the University of Aberdeen, whose support is acknowledged. We thank the reviewers whose helpful comments substantially improved the paper.

Keywords

  • Caprimulgus aegyptius
  • Caprimulgus eximius
  • Golden Nightjar
  • taxonomy
  • molecular phylogeny
  • Nubian Nightjar
  • Caprimulgus nubicus
  • molecular sexing
  • systematics
  • Western Sahara

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The taxonomic position and breeding range of Golden Nightjar Caprimulgus eximius (Caprimulgidae)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this