Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Blue-Throated Bee-eater Merops viridis (Coraciiformes: Meropidae) with its Taxonomic Consideration

Blue-throated Bee-eater Merops viridis (Coracnformes Meropidae) is a bird species of family Meropidae with a very large distribution The complete mitochondrial genome of Blue-throated Bee-eater M viridis was determined The mitogenome is a circular DNA molecule of 18,295 bp and comprises of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes and two control regions CR and CCR, which was first reported in the order Coraciiformes The overall A+T content for the mitogenome is 52%, and the GC and AT skews are-0 400 and 0 108. Unlike to many other birds, no extra base is inserted at certain position relative to ND3. Interestingly, a 484bp repeated sequence appears in both CR and CCR Genetic distance shows that the differences between M. a viridis and M. is americanus is higher than that M v. viruhs vs M. leschenaulti based on Cyt b gene Morphology, geographical distribution and genetic data suggest the elevation of M. is americanus to a full species Rufous-crowned Bee-eater M americanus, supporting the latest taxonomic arrangement by IUCN.