Himalayas home to 360 unique songbird species

LONDON: The first ever mapping of birds in the eastern Himalayan region of India has confirmed that it is home to more than 360 different songbird species, most of which are to be found nowhere else on the planet.

Researchers have also recorded more than 10,000 individual sounds from numerous species, making the region — extending from eastern Nepal to the borderlands of China, India and Myanmar — unique and one of the most important hot spots for biological diversity in the western hemisphere.

The international team of scientists from India, US, Germany and Sweden sampled and analyzed the DNA of all songbirds found in the Himalayas.

Team members compiled some of the genetic material over the course of decades; some was found in old collections in European and North American museums or was taken from individual feathers collected by field workers. The research paper describes how this impressive bird community came about millions of years ago, emphasizing both the uniqueness and biological significance of this remote area.

The scientists were surprised at the relatively large differences in the genetic makeup even between species which are closely related and that often have an extremely similar appearance. On average, each bird species separated from their closest relative six to seven million years ago. The time is roughly equivalent to the period separating human beings from chimpanzees, the animal most closely related to humans.