Geographic variation in the calls of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): isolation by distance and divergence among subspecies
2015
Wei, Chentao | Jia, Chenxi | Dong, Lu | Wang, Daiping | Xia, Canwei | Zhang, Yanyun | Liang, Wei
Studies on the pattern of geographic variation in bird vocalizations can facilitate the understanding of the evolutionary history of species and species differentiation. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a non-passerine widely distributed in Eurasia, and its calls are not acquired through learning. Revealing the geographic pattern of Common Cuckoo calls may help our understanding of the relationship between environment, genetic differentiation, and vocal differentiation. In the present study, geographic variation in the calls of the Common Cuckoo was investigated throughout Eurasia for the first time. Calls of different subspecies of the Common Cuckoo were compared, and the correlations between differences in calls, geographic distance, climatic differences, and altitude differences were determined in order to evaluate the influence of subspecies differentiation, isolation by distance and environmental differences on call differentiation. The results showed there to be significant differences in the calls of different subspecies of the Common Cuckoo. Discriminant function analysis was able to correctly identify 81.7 % of individuals to their original subspecies, and 98 % of individuals of subspecies subtelephonus were correctly assigned. Differences in calls both within and between subspecies were found to be significantly correlated with geographic distance, while environmental differences have no important effect. Our study stressed the effect of isolation by distance on geographic variation of non-passerine vocalization, and we infer that the great divergence in calls between different Common Cuckoo subspecies may be a hint of cryptic species.
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