A team of researchers has discovered a new species of hummingbird with bright golden throat feathers in Peru’s Cordillera Azul National Park. This isolated spot in the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains is an ideal place to look for genetically different species.
Discovery of a New Species
The researchers were amazed by the bird’s unusual appearance. John Bates, curator of birds at the Fields Museum in Chicago, said, “I looked at the bird and said to myself, ‘This thing is unlike any other.’ My first thought was that it was a new species.”
After conducting field research in Peru, the team returned to the Field Museum to analyze the bird’s DNA. To their surprise, the bird had never been documented before, but it was a hybrid derived from two related hummingbird species. These two species are known to have distinctly pink throat feathers, leading researchers to wonder how pink mixed with pink could lead to golden feathers.
Unraveling the Mystery of the Golden Feathers
The initial DNA analysis focused on maternally transmitted mitochondrial DNA, which matched one of the parent species, Heliodoxa branickii. The researchers then examined nuclear DNA, which revealed aspects of both Heliodoxa branickii and Heliodoxa gularis, the other parent species.
However, the golden-necked hummingbird was not the result of an even genetic split. One of its ancestors was probably an even mix of the two species, while later generations apparently crossed with the Branickii hummingbird.
The study, detailing the results, was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. Because hummingbirds of the same species rarely have such different throat feathers, the researchers delved into the mystery of golden feathers in hybrid species.
Chad Eliason, a senior research scientist at Field Museum, said, “It’s a little bit like cooking: if you mix salt and water, you know what you’re going to get, but mixing two complex recipes can give you more unpredictable results. This hybrid is a mixture of two complex pen recipes from two of its parent species.”
The discovery of this new hummingbird species is exciting for the scientific community, as it adds to our understanding of the biodiversity of these fascinating creatures. The researchers plan to continue their work to learn more about this newly discovered hybrid species and its unique golden feathers.
