I beg to differ with you on a number of points. Let's agree to not let this be just another pissing war between vastly outmatched pedants.

Having worked at the Yamashina institute I am very familiar with Dr. Yamashina's pioneering work on mapping of the genome of the chicken.

Many authors have repeated his efforts with different results that basically agree that the Burmese Red JF Gallus gallus/spadiceus is the matriarchal ancestor of 99% of all tested domestic chicken breeds. Further analysis has taken this a little further.

Genet. Sel. Evol. 35 (2003) 403-423
DOI: 10.1051/gse:2003031
Evolutionary relationships of Red Jungle Fowl and chicken breeds
Irina G. Moiseyevaa, Michael N. Romanovb, Andrey A. Nikiforova, Antonina A. Sevastyanovac and Serafima K. Semyenovad

However, there are in actuality five species of Junglefowl.
Gallus varius is basal to the other four closely related species.
Gallus lafayetti and Gallus sonnerati form one cluster
Gallus murghi and Gallus bankiva form a second cluster branching from the aforementioned.
Gallus Gallus is very recent and forms secondary branch from the latter.

Gallus bankiva of Java is genetically distinctive from Gallus gallus.
Some will call it a subspecies others a true species. The Javanese red JF was historically genetically isolated from the mainland red.
The first cultures to inhabit the Indonesian Islands captured wild bankiva from Java and domesticated them. Their RFLP type is found in Ayam pelung, Ayam katai and a few other archaic breeds.

Vol. 93, Issue 13, 6792-6795, June 25, 1996
Evolution
Monophyletic origin and unique dispersal patterns of domestic fowls
Akishinonomiya Fumihito*,dagger , Tetsuo MiyakeDagger , Masaru Takada§, Ryosuke Shingu¶, Toshinori Endopar , Takashi Gojoboripar , Norio Kondo§, and Susumu Ohno**

The Fumihoto et al paper studied samples from primarily English Poultry conservationists in the forementioned paper. This was in part, due to Yamashina's theory and supporting data published in Japanese based on Japanese poulty conservation source data. Japanese honorable fowl conservationists keep poultry in very genetically isolated manner.

A third paper has been published I will find a reference that compared and contrasted the two findings and discusses the different pioneer and selective breeding practices of respective European and Japanese cultures. I think you may find it sophmoric and it was written for poultry specialist audience.

Regardless, the facts are that Green Jf males contributed some genetics to a few archaic breeds. Their nuclear DNA has been found somewhat more sporadically than might be excepted by some to be construed as hard evidence of a rule but thousands of years have passed since the inception of the unique phenotypes and long crowing traits.
THe breeds include the Ayam katai, Ayam kedu, Ayam cemani the last of which is generally of a different RFLP type than the first two. The ayam katai and the ayam kedu share the same exceedingly rare RFLP types with fowl in Oceania including Rapanui and Pitcairn.


LEASE be logical here.

Rapanui had chickens... as did other Polynesian islands.... obtained in Melanesia & SE Asia back when their proto-Polynesian ancestors resided there. Chickens were part of the standard “canoe colonizing package” of domesticates.

Pitcairn HAD no resident chickens, anything the original Polynesian settlers might have introduced died with them when that colony failed (centuries BEFORE European contact). The (in)famous Bounty mutineers brought chickens with them from Tahiti.... along with actual Tahitians.... when they resettled the island. Other breeds have subsequently been added to the mix.



Before you jump to the conclusion that chickens died out when the proto Polynesians colonies failed, please research up on the Green JF. THe hybrids with this wild species quickly revert to wild type and have survived on many isolated islands. They are so unique looking and acting these hybrid races that they were originally assigned Gallus violaceous and Gallus temminiki. The two respective phenotypes occupy different regions of the Oceania/ Paua Indonesian region.
They ARE NOT chickens. They are however truly feral junglefowl that avoid humans like any wild birds perhaps more so. I visited Chile and Easter Island in March and observed wild Rapanui fowl in two crater lakes.
There are so many domestic chickens on the islands it is easy to miss them or assume them to be nothing special that is unless you know what you are looking for. These birds do not look like chickens. They are exceedingly skinny, long legged and have black skin and glossy purple and yellow feathers.
You may recall discussion of feather capes of Easter Island? Many of the feathers in museum
collections capes are of obvious green jf hybrids.
Polynesians did not come from a region with Green JF. They had Burmese red jf the slightly more distant than sibling species of the Proto Indonesian's bankiva. The Burmese is less genetically compatible with varius. There is even less f1-f3 fecundity between varius and gallus than varius and bankiva.

Predators and typhoons tend to wipe out domestic fowl and in many cases red jf.
This is not the case with the Green Jf hybrids.

Regardless, this where I get cagey.

> These domestic fowl were in Easter ISland when the
> first Europeans arrived.

Yep.... introduced BY Rapanui's Polynesian population when they settled the island.



YUP from peoples traveling from southern Indonesia earlier than

those brought in from SE ASIA

And brought from SE Asia, accompanying Polynesians on their spread throughout the Pacific.



But there is no way to prove that the CURRENT Rapa Nui chickens are significantly descended from that original stocking….

Yes Kenuchelover there is. The phenotypic analysis of Easter Island capes is sufficient enough to determine that when the very first Europeans arrived in Easter Island there were
upwards of eight or nine distinctive breeds on the Rapanui Islands. They are named after the
clans they arrived with.
Some interbred we can be sure.
Until you have studied the morphology of these fowl you will continue to find me exceedingly stupid and naive or worse.
THe green jf hybrid stock are very unique. Their plumage is morphologically similar with green jf. The feathers are rounded and have special waterproofing qualities red jf lack. They are also able to subsist on different foods and with very little water.
They can fly for many miles OVER THE OCEAN.
They are not chickens in the simplest sense of the word.
When you see them flying in a tight formation like sandpipers it startles you.



> And there were domestic fowl in South America when
> the first Europeans arrived as well.

The paper YOU cite says that the Auracana chicken has the common type V mtDNA of Gallus gallus gallus…..

And I was unable to locate ANY decent subspecies level studies of nuclear DNA among Gallus ssp. So I’d be VERY interested in tracking down such “cutting edge” research…….


I never mentioned Araucana chickens. Any breed with this name designation is an outcross with only some Chilean genes. The Chilean Indians have two breeds the Colloncas and the Quetero which share the same RFLP type as Ayam kedu and Ayam katai.

I never suggested nuclear DNA was used to determine which Subspecies of junglefowl were male ancestors. I stated clearly that the nuclear DNA of the GReen JF has been found in these oceanic breeds as well as those of the Quechua and Some of the South American fowl.
Oddly, the other breeds have the Nuclear DNA of Gallus lafayetti and or sonnerati present in some not all specimens tested.

And yes all ahve now been thoroughly polluted with European domestic fowl which are truly chickens.

I think it is difficult for you to envision what these fowl look like. They don't even look like chickens most anyway. They are shaped like a pear, have no bare facial skin, combs or wattles, The roosters do not crow like a domestic fowl but have weird screams. The others are tailed but look like they've survived an oil slick.
We know that they do not fare well in close confinement with domestic chickens and quickly succumb to common chicken ailments.


Molecular evidence for hybridization of species in the genus Gallus except for Gallus varius
M. Nishibori*, T. Shimogiri+, T. Hayashi and H. Yasue



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2005 01:15PM by DougWeller.