Genus
Patagioenas (New world pigeons)
Patagioenas fasciata. Photo: (c) Doug Greenberg, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
Patagioenas is a genus of New World pigeons whose distinctness from the genus Columba was long disputed but ultimately confirmed. It is basal to the Columba-Streptopelia radiation. Their ancestors diverged from that lineage probably over 8 million years ago. While the biogeographic pattern of this group suggests that the ancestors of the typical pigeons and turtle-doves settled the Old World from the Americas, Patagioenas may just as well be the offspring of Old World pigeons which…
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