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Containing group: Suboscines

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

There is a basal polytomy in Furnarii among three clades: Melanopareia (crescent-chests), a genus traditionally assigned to Rhinocryptidae (Irestedt et al. 2002; Chesser 2004), Thamnophilidae (typical antbirds) plus Conopophagidae (gnateaters), and remaining Furnarii (Irestedt et al. 2001, 2002; Chesser 2004; but see Barker et al. 2002, 2004 for a different placement of conopophagids). Thamnophilidae is a clade detached from Formicariidae (then just "antbirds") by Sibley and Ahlquist (1990). But even with thamnophilids removed, Formicariidae (ground antbirds) has proven to be paraphyletic. It is divided into two parts; one of them, ant-pittas, is the sister group of Rhinocryptidae (tapaculos) while the other, ant-thrushes, is sister to Furnariidae (ovenbirds) and Dendrocolaptidae (woodcreepers). (There is so far no formal name for either of these divisions of Formicariidae.) Furnariidae is paraphyletic to Dendrocolaptidae (Irestedt et al. 2002; Chesser 2004).

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.

Chesser, R. T. 2004. Molecular systematics of New World suboscine birds. Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 32:11-24.

Irestedt, M., U. S. Johansson, T. J. Parsons, and P. G. P. Ericson. 2001. Phylogeny of major lineages of suboscines (Passeriformes) analysed by nuclear DNA sequence data. J. Avian Biol. 32:15-25.

Irestedt, M., J. Fjelds?, U. S. Johansson, and P. G. P. Ericson. 2002. Systematic relationships and biogeography of the tracheophone suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes). Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 23:499-512.

Sibley, C. G., and J. A. Ahlquist. 1990. Phylogeny and classification of birds, Yale U. Press, New Haven.