The highly variable topography, the climatic history and the great variety of niches of the Andes mountain range have had major contributions to the formation and maintenance of the genetic and morphological diversity of tropical birds. The main causes of divergence promoted by the Andes are attributed to the accumulation of mutations by genetic drift in populations that are reproductively isolated by geographic accidents, and rapid divergence events mediated by adaptation to ecological niches. Studying early evolutive patterns of diversification has shown promise for understanding the role of the Andes mountain behind speciation. Therefore, I propose to study the evolution of the Metallura tyrianthina subspecies which had a rapid diversification in the Andes that resulted in seven subspecies with variable coloration. Here, we corroborate and extend previous studies on the evolution of the Tyrian Metaltail in the northern Andes, using reduced genome (NextRAD) and quantitative coloration assessments for finding phyllogenetic, genetic, demographic and morphologic evidence of two early divergence with gene flow processes in the same species. First, evidence showed that Quaternary glacial cycles may have played a major role in the recent foundation of the Sierra Nevada mountain and a posterior rapid divergence event between populations of Metallura tyrianthina districta, suggesting a new subspecies for the complex. Also, evidence points towards another divergence pattern between eastern and western populations of Metallura tyrianthina tyrianthina that was subtle and not explained by the topography nor isolation by distance.
