A molecular approach to the taxonomy and biogeography of African parrots

Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis of blood samples from eight African parrot species was performed to study the genetic relationship within the genus Poicephalus and among Poi-cephalus and the two other main African parrot genuses, Agapornis and Psittacus. To this end, DNA from six Poicephalus species, one species, of the Agapornis group and the single Psittacus species was analysed. The amplification pattern was then converted into a binary matrix and scored by the unweighted pair-group method algorithm. The resulting dendrogram showed a neat separation of all the Poicephalus on one side, from Psittacus-Agapornis on the other side. Among the six analysed species of Poicephalus, two…