Birdsong Reveals Rare Hybrid Coupling 10 Million Years in the Making
Published:24 Oct.2022 Source:University of Cologne
When Gosser finally located the songbird, he saw what appeared to be a rose-breasted grosbeak, but it sounded just like a scarlet tanager. He took some photos and called for backup -- a team from the National Aviary in Pittsburgh arrived soon after to catch the bird and obtain a blood sample. To follow up on Gosser’s tip, a team of researchers led by Penn State was able to use a combination of genomic sequencing and song analysis to identify the specimen as a rare hybrid bird, whose ancestors haven’t shared the same breeding location or lineage for 10 million years.
The researchers determined that the bird Gosser spotted was the healthy, 1-year-old male offspring of a rose-breasted grosbeak and scarlet tanager, the first-ever documented hybrid of its kind. Yet, his origin story was largely a mystery. Luckily, Toews had a host of techniques available for solving just this type of mystery. From the blood sample, they could obtain a small sample of DNA. The combination of audio and genetic material would get them as close as they could to solving the mystery of the bird’s genesis. Their methodology relied on analyzing both nature and nurture. For the most part, songbirds learn to sing from their fathers. Their vocalizations can reveal how and by whom they were raised.