Originally Posted by
MatthewMiller
In the particular case of Santa Fe, I am trying to figure out how species formation occurs in tropical birds. Santa Fe is at a true biological cross-roads: where from a given species: Central American Caribbean, Central American Pacific and South American originated populations cross the low continental divide and mingle. During our time in Santa Fe, in a Pacific drainage we've captured normally-Caribbean lowland Golden-collared Manakins (Manacus-vitellinus) not Orange-collared Manakins (Manacus aurantiacus) that can be found just 30 km away in the Pacific lowlands). For other species, preliminary studies show that Santa Fe bird populations can be comprised on individuals that differed by 5-8% in mitochondrial DNA (a type of DNA that is widely studied and is often used as a standard for measuring how distinct two species are). Matt