New discovery refutes old assumptions about extinct Passenger Pigeon

Photo by Ben Sutherland

Until now, it was believed that the Passenger Pigeon’s (Ectopistes migratorius) closest relative was the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), a smaller species with whom the Passenger Pigeon shared a common trait, a relatively long tail. Through bits of DNA extracted from century-old museum specimens, researchers at the University of Illinois, California Academy of Sciences, the University of Utah, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute compared gene sequences with those of 78 pigeon and dove species from around the world. Their findings, which will be published in this month’s Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, revealed the surprising result that the extinct bird's closest living relative is the Band-Tailed Pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata), a common resident of California.

Morning Dove

According to Dr. Jack Dumbacher, Curator of Ornithology at the California Academy of Sciences,

This research demonstrates the remarkable potential of DNA to answer questions about species that no longer populate our planet. The Passenger Pigeon has been extinct for almost 100 years, but with the help of museum specimens and DNA analysis, we're still learning new information a bout the bird's evolutionary history and its place on the tree of life.

The Passenger pigeon was once one of North America’s most spectacular birds but was sadly one of the first to be driven to extinction by humans. The Passenger Pigeon once flocked to the skies in millions, covering more than a kilometre-wide swath of sky, but in the early 1800s, hunting sprees coupled with habitat destruction drove the Passenger Pigeon to extinction. The last Passenger Pigeon, Martha, died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.

The Passenger Pigeonhas now found its rightful place on the family tree thanks to the dedicated scientists whose research was funded by National Science

Foundation. For more details on this discovery please click here.

Band-Tailed Pigeon, photo by Jim Dubois