Fig. 1. The Galapagos Cormorant, a model to study flightlessness evolution.

(A) The average wing length of an adult Galapagos cormorant male is 19 cm (3.6 kg. body mass), whereas the wing length of its closest relative, the double-crested cormorant, is 31.5 cm. (2.2 kg. body mass). Illustration by Katie Bertsche from specimens 134079 and 151575 from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley. (B) CEGMA score is a good predictor of genome completeness from a gene-centric perspective. Blue line is the linear regression model (r² = 0.75 P = 4.3×10⁻⁰⁷). Genomes reported in this study are red triangles and other published avian genomes are black circles (table S2). (C) Bayesian phylogram reconstructed with fourfold degenerate sites from whole genome sequences. The orange bar illustrates the time span between the approximate origin of proto-Galapagos archipelago (9 MYA) and the origin of the oldest extant island, San Cristobal (4 MYA). Nodes represent median divergence ages. Blue bars indicate the 95% Highest Posterior Density (HPD) Interval. (D) Heterozygosity levels inferred from whole genome sequences. Birds are not drawn to scale.