In the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru, biologists discovered a new hummingbird species with shiny feathers by its throat that resembled a golden collar.
The park is a remote area that is the ideal place to discover a genetically distinct species. It is part of an outer ridge on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains.
When John Bates, a curator of birds at the Field Museum in Chicago, noticed that the specimens were different from anything else, he assumed they belonged to a new species.
New Hummingbird Species
Researchers made a startling discovery after finishing their field research in Peru and traveling back to the Field Museum to examine the bird's DNA.
The Rufous-webbed Brilliant Hummingbird (Heliodoxa branickii), and the Pink-throated Brilliant Hummingbird (Heliodoxa gularis), two closely related hummingbird species, were the parent species of the bird, which had never before been observed.
The researchers wondered how pink mixed with pink could produce gold feathers since both species of hummingbird are identified by their distinctly pink feathers on their throats.
According to Bates, the specimen birds' DNA matched Heliodoxa branickii, one of the pink-throated hummingbirds native to that region of Peru.
DNA Analysis
Initially, only mitochondrial DNA was analyzed, which is inherited from the mother and matched Heliodoxa branickii.
The researchers next examined the nuclear DNA, which was produced as a result of genetic contributions from each of the parent species and revealed characteristics of both Heliodoxa gularis and Heliodoxa branickii.
The gold-throated hummingbird, however, did not arise from an equal genetic split. Later generations emerged to have mated with branickii hummingbirds, while one of its ancestors was probably an even mix between the two species.
The study detailing the research done by Bates and several colleagues was recently published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Golden Collar
Since it's unusual for hummingbirds under the same species to have throat feathers that differ so drastically, the researchers delved further into the mystery surrounding the hybrid species' gold feathers.
According to study co-author and senior research scientist at the Field Museum Chad Eliason, this hybrid is a combination of two intricate feather-making recipes from its two parent species.
According to Headlines New York, the melanin pigment that gives feathers their primary color is what gives them their structural color, but the cell structure of the feathers and how light is reflected off the feathers also contribute. This structural hue is what gives hummingbird feathers their iridescent quality.
The research team used an electron microscope to examine the bird's throat feathers to determine how light reflecting off the feathers produced various colors.
Iridescence can be used to create magenta in a variety of ways, according to Eliason. Each of the parent species produces magenta differently. This is why creating a feather color can have a nonlinear or unexpected result.
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Colorful Hybrids
The finding raises the possibility that hybrids are responsible for the variety of hues seen in different hummingbirds.
According to Eliason, it would take between 6 million and 10 million years for this pronounced pink-to-gold color shift to emerge in a single species, based on the rate of color evolution seen in hummingbirds.
According to Bates, cutting-edge resources like genetic data provide a fresh perspective on how these occurrences occur over time and space. In the region of Peru where this study was conducted, one thing the team wanted to investigate is how this intricate foothill landscape has changed over time and what part those changes have contributed to the diversity of birds and other organisms, CNN reports.
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