Phylogeny of penduline tits inferred from mitochondrial and microsatellite genotyping

Penduline tits (Remiz spp.) are renowned for their diverse mating and parenting strategies, and are a well-studied system by behavioural ecologists. However, the phylogenetic relationships and species delimitations within this genus are poorly understood. Here, we investigate phylogenetic relationships within the genus Remiz by examining the genetic variation in the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene of 64 individuals and in ten autosomal microsatellite markers from 44 individuals. The taxon sampling includes individuals from all currently recognized species (R. pendulinus, R. macronyx, R. coronatus, and R. consobrinus) and most subspecies in the Palearctic region. We showed that R. coronatus and R. consobrinus are genetically well differentiated and constitute independent evolutionary lineages, separated from each other and from R. pendulinus/macronyx. However, we found no evidence for significant differentiation among R. pendulinus/macronyx individuals in mtDNA haplotypes and only marginal differences between R. pendulinus and R. macronyx in microsatellite markers. Hence, based on present data our recommendation is to treat R. pendulinus and R. macronyx as conspecific and R. coronatus and R. consobrinus as separate species.