A comprehensive multilocus phylogeny of the Neotropical cotingas (Cotingidae, Aves) with a comparative evolutionary analysis of breeding system and plumage dimorphism and a revised phylogenetic classification

• We present the first multilocus species tree of the Neotropical cotingas.
• We confirm the monophyly of the cotingas.
• We present the first phylogenetic evidence for the placement of Phibalura flavirostris.
• We present the first hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships within the Cotinga, Lipaugus, Pipreola, and Procnias genera.
• We find that plumage color dimorphism and breeding system may be uncorrelated in the cotingas.

The Neotropical cotingas (Cotingidae: Aves) are a group of passerine birds that are characterized by extreme diversity in morphology, ecology, breeding system, and behavior. Here, we present a comprehensive phylogeny of the Neotropical cotingas based on six nuclear and mitochondrial loci (∼7500 bp) for a sample of 61 cotinga species in all 25 genera, and 22 species of suboscine outgroups. Our taxon sample more than doubles the number of cotinga species studied in previous analyses, and allows us to test the monophyly of the cotingas as well as their intrageneric relationships with high resolution. We analyze our genetic data using a Bayesian species tree method, and concatenated Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods, and present a highly supported phylogenetic hypothesis. We confirm the monophyly of the cotingas, and present the first phylogenetic evidence for the relationships of Phibalura flavirostris as the sister group to Ampelion and Doliornis, and the paraphyly of Lipaugus with respect to Tijuca. In addition, we resolve the diverse radiations within the Cotinga, Lipaugus, Pipreola, and Procnias genera. We find no support for Darwin’s (1871) hypothesis that the increase in sexual selection associated with polygynous breeding systems drives the evolution of color dimorphism in the cotingas, at least when analyzed at a broad categorical scale. Finally, we present a new comprehensive phylogenetic classification of all cotinga species.

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