There have been no investigations having as their sole purpose the
clarification of the relationship of the genera _Zenaida_ and
_Zenaidura_. But some work has involved the comparison of the antigenic
content of individual columbids with the antigenic content of a member
of another species of the same family.
Irwin and Miller (1961) tested, along with other columbids, members of
_Zenaida_ and _Zenaidura_ for presence of, 1) species-specific antigens
of _Columba guinea_ (in relation to _Columba livia_) which are
designated A, B, C and E, and, 2) species-specific antigens of _C.
livia_ (in relation to _C. guinea_) which are designated A', B', C' and
E'.
In the first test all five species of _Zenaida_ and _Zenaidura_
possessed antigens A and C, and all but _auriculata_ possessed E. None
of the species gave evidence of the presence of the B antigen of _C.
guinea_ in their blood. In the latter test only _macroura_ had A', only
_asiatica_ had B' (_aurita_ was not tested for B'), and none had C' or
E'.
These results would indicate that the five species are similar
regarding antigenic content of the blood, and the variation is not
consistent within one or the other genus as presently known.