AFFINITIES OF THE HAWAIIAN GOOSE BASED ON 2 TYPES OF MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA DATA

We compared restriction fragments of mitochondrial DNA and sequences of portions of the cytochrome b gene of the following: the Hawaiian Goose (Nesochen sandvicensis), five subspecies of the Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), the Pacific Black Brant (B. bernicla nigricans), and the Emperor Goose (Chen canagica). Both comparisons support the association of the Hawaiian Goose and the Canada Goose as sister taxa as well as the association of all four large-bodied subspecies of Canada Geese as separate from the one small-bodied subspecies analyzed here. Bootstrap and winning-sites tests show these associations to be statistically significant. The amount of sequence divergence implies that Hawaiian and Canada Geese diverged from a common ancestor less than three million years ago and that this divergence preceded the divergence of large- and small-bodied Canada Geese only slightly, if at all. Therefore, we suggest a North American origin for the Hawaiian Goose.