Brown kiwi: one is divided into two

1993/08/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

In New Zealand lives a bird called kiwi and does not fly. Hence the name of the fruit that has spread among us in recent years. So far three species of this bird were known. Recently it has been discovered that one of them, the brown kiwi, is not a species and are two species.

After a genetic analysis of brown kiwi populations, it has been observed that brown kiwis that inhabit the southern tip of the South Island and brown kiwis that inhabit the north of the same island and the North Island do not have the same DNA. A different genetic material means they are different species. Moreover, when analyzing mitochondrial DNA it has been observed that southern brown kiwi evolved before the north.

It is believed that these birds that do not fly were isolated on the summits of the mountains during the period of ice of the pleistocene, dispersed in different populations. Having not been able to exchange their genes, they began to distance themselves and eventually split into different species.

The new species is named after touches, given by the majorities.