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Alcidae

Auks

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taxon links [up-->]Ptychoramphus aleuticus [up-->]Uria [up-->]Alle alle [up-->]Cepphus [up-->]Synthliboramphus [up-->]Brachyramphus [up-->]Aethia [up-->]Alca torda [up-->]Fratercula [up-->]Cerorhinca monocerata [down<--]Charadriiformes Interpreting the tree
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This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

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You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

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Relationships after Baker et al. 2007.
Containing group: Charadriiformes

Other Names for Alcidae

References

Baker, A. J., S. L. Pereira, and T. A. Paton. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of Charadriiformes genera: Multigene evidence for the Cretaceous origin of at least 14 clades of shorebirds. Biology Letters 3:205-209.

Pereira, S. L. and A. J. Baker. 2008. DNA evidence for a Paleocene origin of the Alcidae (Aves: Charadriiformes) in the Pacific and multiple dispersals across northern oceans. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46(2):430-445.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Aethia cristatella
Location St. George Island, Pribilofs, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA
Creator Art Sowls
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Collection U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Online Digital Media Library
Scientific Name Fratercula arctica
Location Handa Island, Scotland
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Puffin (Fratercula Arctica)
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2004 Nick Evans
Scientific Name Alca torda
Location Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Razorbill II
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2005 Keith Marshall
About This Page

Page: Tree of Life Alcidae. Auks. 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:

Tree of Life Web Project. 2008. Alcidae. Auks. Version 24 June 2008 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Alcidae/26357/2008.06.24 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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