Project description:Abstract In cleaning associations, individuals known as “cleaners” remove and feed on parasites and pests found on, or around, other animals known as “clients.” While best documented in marine environments and as mutualisms, cleaning associations are widespread in terrestrial systems and range along a spectrum of obligate to facultative associations. In African savannas, cleaning associations primarily comprise facultative interactions between mammals and birds that remove attached parasites. Few reports, however, exist on cleaning associations that involve the removal of unattached pests. In this short note, I report a novel facultative bird–ungulate cleaning association involving the removal of unattached pests, between the African paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis) and two species of spiral‐horned antelope (Tragelaphus spp.): greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and Cape bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus). On multiple occasions, I observed African paradise flycatchers hawking flying insects around greater kudu and a Cape bushbuck during the dry season at the Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia, Kenya. These observations document a rare feeding strategy for the African paradise flycatcher and are among the few records on cleaning interactions involving the removal of unattached pests. In cleaning associations, individuals known as "cleaners" remove and feed on parasites and pests found on, or around other animals known as "clients". In African savannas, cleaning associations primarily comprise facultative interactions between birds and mammals. Here, I present a novel bird‐ungulate cleaning interaction in an African savanna involving African paradise flycatchers (Terpsiphone viridis) and two spiral horned antelope: greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and Cape bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus).
Project description:The mitogenome of Terpsiphone paradisi is 16,951 bp in length and consists of 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes and one control region. The nucleotide frequencies of As, Ts, Cs, Gs of the mitogenome is 31.0%, 24.7%, 29.8% and 14.5%, respectively. All PCGs start with typical ATN codon with the exception of COI genes, which use GTG as the initiation codon, and Most PCGs end with AGG, AGA, TAA, or TAG, except for COII, COIII and ND4, which terminated with T instead. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that genetic distances of T. paradisi and Terpsiphone atrocaudata was closer than other species.
