Sorting out relationships among the grouse and ptarmigan using intron, mitochondrial, and ultra-conserved element sequences

•Prior estimates of grouse and ptarmigan phylogeny were uncertain.•We analyzed introns, mitochondrial data and ultra-conserved elements.•All relationships, including non-monophyly of one genus, were strongly supported.•Maternally-inherited and autosomal loci had different branch lengths within genera.•Biogeographic reconstruction suggests at least four Old/New World transitions.

The Holarctic phasianid clade of the grouse and ptarmigan has received substantial attention in areas such as evolution of mating systems, display behavior, and population ecology related to their conservation and management as wild game species. There are multiple molecular phylogenetic studies that focus on grouse and ptarmigan. In spite of this, there is little consensus regarding historical relationships, particularly among genera, which has led to unstable and partial taxonomic revisions. We estimated the phylogeny of all currently recognized species using a combination of novel data from seven nuclear loci (largely intron sequences) and published data from one additional autosomal locus, two W-linked loci, and four mitochondrial regions. To explore relationships among genera and assess paraphyly of one genus more rigorously, we then added over 3000 ultra-conserved element (UCE) loci (over 1.7 million bp) gathered using Illumina sequencing. The UCE topology agreed with that of the combined nuclear intron and previously published sequence data with 100% bootstrap support for all relationships. These data strongly support previous studies separating Bonasa from Tetrastes and Dendragapus from Falcipennis. However, the placement of Lagopus differed from previous studies, and we found no support for Falcipennis monophyly. Biogeographic analysis suggests that the ancestors of grouse and ptarmigan were distributed in the New World and subsequently underwent at least four dispersal events between the Old and New Worlds. Divergence time estimates from maternally-inherited and autosomal markers show stark differences across this clade, with divergence time estimates from maternally-inherited markers being nearly half that of the autosomal markers at some nodes, and nearly twice that at other nodes.

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