A new insight into the classification of dusky thrush complex: bearings on the phylogenetic relationships within the...

Dusky thrush complex comprises of two sister species breeding in SC Siberia, which is the member of thrush Turdus from Turdidae. The phylogenetic resolution of Dusky thrush complex remains controversial, and a detailed research is still necessary. In this research, we determined the complete mtDNAs of both species, and estimated phylogenetic trees based on the mtDNA alignment of these and 21 other Turdidae species, to clarify the taxa status of the Dusky thrush complex. The squenced lengths of these three mitochondrial genomes were 16,737, 16,788 and 16,750 bp. The mtDNAs are circular molecules, containing the 37 typical genes, with an identical gene order and arrangement as those of other Turdidae. The ATG and TAA, respectively, are observed the most commonly start and stop codon. Most of the tRNA could be folded into the canonical cloverleaf secondary structure except for tRNA^Ser (AGY) and tRNA^Leu (CUN), which lose 'DHU' arm. The control region presented a higher A + T content than the average value for the whole mitogenome. The phylogenetic trees reconstructed by the concatenated nucleotide sequences of mtDNA genes (Cyt b, ND2 and COI) indicate the Dusky thrush complex cannot be divided into two species, but the relationships between Dusky thrush subspecies still need additional study. This study improves our understanding of mitogenomic structure and evolution of the Dusky thrush complex, which can provide further insights into our understanding of phylogeny and taxonomy in Turdidae.