A comprehensive multilocus phylogeny for the wood-warblers and a revised classification of the Parulidae (Aves) Irby J. Lovette a,⇑ , Jorge L. Pérez-Emán b , John P. Sullivan a , Richard C. Banks c , Isabella Fiorentino a , Sergio Córdoba-Córdoba a,1 , María Echeverry-Galvis a,1 , F. Keith Barker d , Kevin J. Burns e , John Klicka f , Scott M. Lanyon d , Eldredge Bermingham g a Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14950, USA b Instituto de Zoología y Ecología Tropical, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Apartado Postal 47058, Caracas 1041-A, Venezuela c United States Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, USA d Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA e Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA f Barrick Museum of Natural History, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA g Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama article info Article history: Received 2 March 2010 Revised 22 June 2010 Accepted 28 July 2010 Available online 7 August 2010 Keywords: Parulidae Wood-warbler Systematics Phylogeny Classification abstract The birds in the family Parulidae—commonly termed the New World warblers or wood-warblers—are a classic model radiation for studies of ecological and behavioral differentiation. Although the monophyly of a ‘core’ wood-warbler clade is well established, no phylogenetic hypothesis for this group has included a full sampling of wood-warbler species diversity. We used parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods to reconstruct relationships among all genera and nearly all wood-warbler species, based on a matrix of mitochondrial DNA (5840 nucleotides) and nuclear DNA (6 loci, 4602 nucleotides) characters. The resulting phylogenetic hypotheses provide a highly congruent picture of wood-warbler relationships, and indicate that the traditional generic classification of these birds recog- nizes many non-monophyletic groups. We recommend a revised taxonomy in which each of 14 genera (Seiurus, Helmitheros, Mniotilta, Limnothlypis, Protonotaria, Parkesia, Vermivora, Oreothlypis, Geothlypis, Setophaga, Myioborus, Cardellina, Basileuterus, Myiothlypis) corresponds to a well-supported clade; these nomenclatural changes also involve subsuming a number of well-known, traditional wood-warbler gen- era (Catharopeza, Dendroica, Ergaticus, Euthlypis, Leucopeza, Oporornis, Parula, Phaeothlypis, Wilsonia). We provide a summary phylogenetic hypothesis that will be broadly applicable to investigations of the his- torical biogeography, processes of diversification, and evolution of trait variation in this well studied avian group. Ó 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The wood-warblers of the avian family Parulidae have a long history of serving as models for ecological and behavioral studies (e.g., MacArthur, 1958; Morse, 1970; Shutler and Weatherhead, 1990; Price et al., 2000; Martin and Martin, 2001; Freckleton and Harvey, 2006; Lovette and Hochachka, 2006; Rabosky and Lovette, 2008), but there has been no comprehensive analysis of their phy- logenetic relationships that includes most of the genera or species in this otherwise well-studied radiation. Wood-warblers are small, primarily insectivorous birds with a broad diversity of habitat affinities and life-histories. Overall, the breeding distributions of species in this New World group span the Arctic to temperate South America, with centers of diversity in eastern North America, the West Indies, Mexico and Central America, and Andean South America. Most northern-breeding species are migratory, but many island and tropical species are sedentary or undertake only short-distance elevational migrations. The wood-warblers breed exclusively in the New World, and they are not closely allied to the various Old World songbirds (from 10 or more families) that are also commonly termed ‘‘warblers.” Modern classifications have generally recognized 112–115 wood-warbler species distributed among 24–26 genera (Sibley and Monroe, 1990; Curson et al., 1994; 1055-7903/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.018 ⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 607 254 2486. E-mail address: IJL2@cornell.edu (I.J. Lovette). 1 Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57 (2010) 753–770 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ympev