In an ealier post, I pointed out that the splits proposed by Robertson and
Nunn in Albatross Coonservation and Biology were not supported from any
form of the Biological Species Concept, as opposed to the Phylogenetic
Species Concept, where all subspecies become species. I've had a look at
the cytochrome-b sequence for Diomedea sanfordi, and found that it differed
from the sequence of D.epomophora by 0.0000%! In other words, it was
identical. Obviously there must be differences elsewhere in the genome that
are responsible for the differences between epomophora and sanfordi, but
the identity of the cytochrome-b sequences shows that their divergence must
have been very recent indeed in evolutionary terms, and sanfordi also must
be given subspecific status.
John Penhallurick
Associate Professor John M. Penhallurick<>
Canberra, Australia
Phone BH( 61 2) 6201 2346 AH (61 2) 62585428
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