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Passeroidea

David P. Mindell, Joseph W. Brown, and John Harshman
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Red Crossbill
taxon links [up-->]'Nine-primaried oscines' [down<--]Passerida Interpreting the tree
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Containing group: Passerida

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

There is some question whether Passeroidea includes Promeropidae (shown directly under Passerida), but the rest of the superfamily is clearly monophyletic (Barker et al. 2002, 2004; Ericson and Johansson 2003; Beresford et al. 2005). Nectariniidae (sunbirds) and Dicaeidae (flowerpeckers) are sisters (Barker et al. 2002, 2004; Ericson and Johansson 2003; Beresford et al. 2005), and form a trichotomy with Irenidae (fairy bluebirds) and remaining passeroids (Barker et al. 2002, 2004; Beresford et al. 2005). Peucedramus (olive warbler), previously thought to be either a parulid or basal within 9-primaried oscines (Sibley and Monroe 1990) is instead sister to Prunellidae (accentors) (Ericson and Johansson 2003), and these are sister to the remaining passeroids (Barker et al. 2002, 2004; Ericson and Johansson 2003; Beresford et al. 2005). Passeridae (Old World sparrows) and Motacillidae (pipits and wagtails) are successive sister groups to the nine-primaried oscines (Barker et al. 2002, 2004; Ericson and Johansson 2003). Though this is weakly supported in each analysis, agreement between analyses and a three-codon insertion in the c-myc sequences (Ericson et al. 2000) are conclusive.

References

Barker, F. K., G. F. Barrowclough, and J. G. Groth. 2002. A phylogenetic hypothesis for passerine birds; Taxonomic and biogeographic implications of an analysis of nuclear DNA sequence data. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 269:295-308.

Barker, F. K., A. Cibois, P. Schikler, J. Feinstein, and J. Cracraft. 2004. Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101:11040-11045.

Beresford, P., F. K. Barker, P. G. Ryan, and T. M. Crowe. 2005. African endemics span the tree of songbirds (Passeri): Molecular systematics of several evolutionary "enigmas". Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 272:849-858.

Ericson, P. G. P., U. S. Johansson, and T. J. Parsons. 2000. Major divisions in oscines revealed by insertions in the nuclear gene c-myc: A novel gene in avian phylogenetics. Auk 117:1069-1078.

Ericson, P. G. P., and U. S. Johansson. 2003. Phylogeny of Passerida (Aves: Passeriformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 29:126-138.

Harshman, J. 2007. Classification and phylogeny of birds. Pages 1-35 in Reproductive biology and phylogeny of birds (B. G. M. Jamieson, ed.). Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, NH.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Red Crossbill
Scientific Name Loxia curvirostra
Location Deschutes National Forest, Oregon, USA
Comments Red Crossbill
Creator Dave Menke
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Collection U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Online Digital Media Library
Scientific Name Motacilla cinerea
Location Russia, Republic of Altai, Iogach river
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Sex Male
Source Grey Wagtail
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Sergey Yeliseev
Scientific Name Irena puella
Location captive at Philadelphia Zoo
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Sex Female
Source Feeling Blue
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Marty DeAngelo
About This Page

David P. Mindell
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA

Joseph W. Brown
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA


Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to David P. Mindell at , Joseph W. Brown at , and John Harshman at

Page: Tree of Life Passeroidea. Authored by David P. Mindell, Joseph W. Brown, and John Harshman. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Mindell, David P., Joseph W. Brown, and John Harshman. 2006. Passeroidea. Version 02 August 2006 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Passeroidea/67278/2006.08.02 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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