Genetic and morphological analysis shows the Nechisar Nightjar is a hybrid

Abstract

The Nechisar Nightjar Caprimulgus solala was described only from a single wing collected as roadkill from Nechisar National Park in Ethiopia in 1990. To resolve its taxonomic status a sample was taken from the Nechisar Nightjar holotype and 53 other Afrotropical nightjars, and genomic DNA extracted for sequencing of one mitochondrial and three nuclear genes. The genetic analysis concluded that Nechisar Nightjar is most likely a hybrid, with mitochondrial DNA of Standard-winged Nightjar Caprimulgus longipennis and nuclear alleles from Standard-winged Nightjar and a second nightjar species that has not yet been sequenced. Morphometric and plumage analysis suggests that the paternal parent is Freckled Nightjar Caprimulgus tristigma, for which no nuclear sequence data are currently available.