DNA sequence analysis[6] confirms that the white-winged and West Peruvian doves are the most distinct and that they should be treated as distinct species. Relationships among the other species are quite unequivocal, too; what is not quite clear is whether the Galapagos dove is most closely related to the zenaida dove (as tentatively indicated by morphology) or to the eared and mourning doves (as suggested by DNA sequences — although with a very low confidence level – and, most robustly, biogeography).
^Johnson, K.P.; Weckstein, J.D. (2011). "The Central American land bridge as an engine of diversification in New World doves". Journal of Biogeography. 38: 1069–1076. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02501.x.
^Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 2 March 2020.