Data from: Closing the gap: avian lineage splits at a young, narrow seaway imply a protracted history of mixed population response
Steven A. Trewick, Stephen Pilkington, Lara D. Shepherd, Gillian C. Gibb, Mary Morgan-Richards & Steve A. Trewick
The evolutionary significance of spatial habitat gaps has been well recognized since Alfred Russel Wallace compared the faunas of Bali and Lombok. Gaps between islands influence population structuring of some species, and flightless birds are expected to show strong partitioning even where habitat gaps are narrow. We examined the population structure of the most numerous living flightless land bird in New Zealand, Weka (Gallirallus australis). We surveyed Weka and their feather lice in native and...