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Neoaves

David P. Mindell, Joseph W. Brown, and John Harshman
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White-faced Owl, Ptilopsis leucotisGreat Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
taxon links [up-->]Piciformes [up-->]Charadriiformes [up-->]Psittaciformes [up-->]Ciconiiformes [up-->]Cuculiformes [up-->]Falconiformes [up-->]Coraciiformes [up-->]Pelecaniformes [up-->]Pteroclidiformes [up-->]Coliiformes [up-->]Caprimulgiformes [up-->]Columbiformes [up-->]Passeriformes [up-->]Procellariiformes [up-->]Aegothelidae [up-->]Opisthocomiformes [up-->]Strigiformes [up-->]Gaviiformes [up-->]Sphenisciformes [up-->]Phoenicopteriformes [up-->]Musophagiformes [up-->]Podicipediformes [up-->]Apodiformes [up-->]Trogoniformes [up-->]Gruiformes Monophyly UncertainMonophyly UncertainMonophyly UncertainMonophyly UncertainMonophyly UncertainMonophyly Uncertain[down<--]Neornithes 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.

example of a tree diagram

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.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

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Summary phylogenetic hypothesis for avian orders based on numerous studies, both molecular and morphological, reviewed in Cracraft et al. (2004). This hypothesis remains a "work in progress."
Containing group: Neornithes

References

Braun, E. L. and R. T. Kimball. 2002. Examining basal avian divergences with mitochondrial sequences: model complexity, taxon sampling, and seqeunce length. Syst. Biol. 51:614-625.

Brown, J. W., R. B. Payne, and D. P. Mindell. 2007. Nuclear DNA does not reconcile ‘rocks’ and ‘clocks’ in Neoaves: a comment on Ericson et al. Biol. Lett. 3:257-259.

Cooper, A. and D. Penny. 1997. Mass survival of birds across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary: Molecular evidence. Science 275:1109-1113.

Cracraft, J. 1981. Toward a phylogenetic classification of birds of the world (class Aves). Auk 98: 681-714.

Cracraft, J. 1988. The major clades of birds. In The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods. (M. J. Benton, ed.), Systematics Assoc. Special Vol. No. 35A, pp. 333-355. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Cracraft, J. 2001. Avian evolution, Gondwana biogeography and the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. 268B:459-469.

Cracraft, J. and J. Clarke. 2001. The basal clades of modern birds. Pp. 143-156 in New perspectives on the origin and early evolution of birds (J. Gauthier and L. F. Gall, eds.). Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Cracraft, J., F. K. Barker, M. J. Braun, J. Harshman, G. Dyke, J. Feinstein, S. Stanley, A. Cibois, P. Schikler, P. Beresford, J. García-Moreno, M. D. Sorenson, T. Yuri, and D. P. Mindell. 2004. Phylogenetic Relationships Among Modern Birds (Neornithes): Toward an Avian Tree of Life. Pp 468-489 in Cracraft, J. and M. J. Donoghue (eds.), Assembling the Tree of Life. Oxford University Press, New York.

Cracraft, J., and D. P. Mindell. 1989. The early history of modern birds: a comparison of molecular and morphological evidence. In The Hierarchy of Life. (B. Fernholm, K. Bremer and H. Jörnvall, eds.), Proc. of Nobel Symposia, pp. 389-403. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam.

Dyke GJ, Van Tuinen M. 2004. The evolutionary radiation of modern birds (Neornithes): reconciling molecules, morphology and the fossil record. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 141: 153-177.

Edwards, S. V., W. B. Jennings and A. M. Shedlock. 2005. Phylogenetics of modern birds in the era of genomics. Proc. R. Soc. B 272:979–992.

Ericson, P. G. P., C. L. Anderson, T. Britton, A. Elzanowski, U. S. Johansson, M. Kallersjo, J. I. Ohlson, T. J. Parsons, D. Zuccon, G. Mayr. 2006. Diversification of Neoaves: integration of molecular sequence data and fossils. Biology Letters 2(4):543-547.

Ericson, P. G. P., L. Christidis, A. Cooper, M. Irestedt, J. Jackson, U. S. Johansson, and J. A. Norman. 2002. A Gondwanan origin of passerine birds supported by DNA sequences of the endemic New Zealand wrens. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. 269B:235-241.

Fain, M. G. and P. Houde. 2004. Parallel radiations in the primary clades of birds. Evolution 58:2558-2573.

Feduccia, A. 1999. The Origin and Evolution of Birds. 2nd edition. Yale University Press: New Haven.

García-Moreno, J. and D. P. Mindell. 2000. Using homologous genes on opposite sex chromosomes (gametologs) in phylogenetic analysis: a case study with avian CHD. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17:1826-1832.

García-Moreno, J., M. D. Sorenson and D. P. Mindell. 2003. Congruent avian phylogenies inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Journal of Molecular Evolution 57:27-37.

Gibb, G. C., O. Kardailsky, R. T. Kimball, E. Braun, and D. Penny. 2007. Mitochondrial genomes and avian phylogeny: complex characters and resolvability without explosive radiations. Molecular Biology and Evolution 24:269-280.

Gill, F. B. 1990. Ornithology. W. H. Freeman and Co., New York.

Gill, F. and M. Wright. 2006. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

Groth, J. G. and G. F. Barrowclough. 1999. Basal divergences in birds and the phylogenetic utility of the nuclear RAG-1 gene. Mol. Phylog. Evol. 12: 115-123.

Harrison GL, McLenachan PA, Phillips MJ, Slack KE, Cooper A, Penny D. 2004. Four new avian mitochondrial genomes help get to basic evolutionary questions in the late Cretaceous. Mol.Phylogenet. Evol. 21:974-983.

Hedges, S. B., Simmons, M. D., van Dijk, M. A. M., Caspers, G.-J., de Jong, W. W., and Sibley, C. G. 1995. Phylogenetic relationships of the hoatzin, an enigmatic South American bird. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 11662-11665.

Hedges, S. B., Parker, P. H., Sibley, C. G., and Kumar, S. 1996. Continental breakup and the ordinal diversification of birds and mammals. Nature 381: 226-229.

Hennig, W. 1966. Phylogenetic Systematics. Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana.

Hughes, J. M. and A. J. Baker. 1999. Phylogenetic relationships of the enigmatic hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) resolved using mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Mol. Biol. Evol. 16:1300-1307.

Johansson, U. S., T. J. Parsons, M. Irestedt, and P. G. P. Ericson. 2001. Clades within the "higher land birds", evaluated by nuclear DNA sequences. J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 39:37-51.

Johnson, K. P. 2001. Taxon sampling and the phylogenetic position of Passeriformes: evidence from 916 avian cytochrome b sequences. Syst. Zool. 50:128-136.

Livezey, B. C. and R. L. Zusi. 2001. Higher-order phylogenetics of modern Aves based on comparative anatomy. Netherlands J. Zool. 51:179-205.

Mayr, E., and Cottrell, G. W. 1979. Revision of the Work of J. L. Peters: Check-list of Birds of the World, Vol. 1. Mus. of Comp. Zool., Cambridge.

Mayr, G. 2002. Osteological evidence for paraphyly of the avian order Caprimulgiformes (nightjar and allies). J. für Ornithol. 143:82-97.

Mayr G. 2003. The phylogenetic affinities of the Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex). J. für Ornithol. 144: 157-175.

Mayr G. 2004. Morphological evidence for sister group relationship between flamingos (Aves : Phoenicopteridae) and grebes (Podicipedidae). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 140 (2): 157-169.

Mayr, G. 2005. Tertiary plotopterids (Aves, Plotopteridae) and a novel hypothesis on the phylogenetic relationships of penguins (Spheniscidae). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 43(1):61–71.

Mayr, G. 2008. Avian higher-level phylogeny: well-supported clades and what we can learn from a phylogenetic analysis of 2954 morphological characters. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 46(1):63–72.

Mayr G, Manegold A, Johansson U. 2003. Monophyletic groups within 'higher land birds' - comparison of morphological and molecular data (vol 41, pg 233, 2003) J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 42:173-174.

Mayr G, Clarke J. 2003. The deep divergences of neornithine birds: a phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters. Cladistics 19:527-553.

Mindell, D. P. (ed.). 1997. Avian Molecular Evolution and Systematics. Academic Press: San Diego.

Mindell, D. P., M. D. Sorenson, D. E. Dimcheff, M. Hasegawa, J. C. Ast, and T. Yuri. 1999. Interordinal relationships of birds and other reptiles based on whole mitochondrial genomes. Syst. Biol. 48: 138-152.

Mindell, D. P., M. D. Sorenson, C. J. Huddleston, H. C. Miranda, Jr., A. Knight, S. J. Sawchuk, and T. Yuri. 1997. Phylogenetic relationships among and within select avian orders based on mitochondrial DNA. Pp. 213-247 in Avian Molecular Evolution and Systematics (D. P. Mindell, ed.). Academic Press: San Diego.

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Information on the Internet

For bird links, see Neornithes Information on the Internet
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
White-faced Owl, Ptilopsis leucotis
Scientific Name Ptilopsis leucotis
Location Botswana (Okavango Delta), Southern Africa
Comments White-faced Owl
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Copyright © 1997 Greg and Marybeth Dimijian
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
Scientific Name Ardea herodias
Location Texas coast
Comments Great Blue Heron
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Behavior flying
Copyright © 1997 Greg and Marybeth Dimijian
Scientific Name Cinnyris venustus
Location Mount Kenya, Kenya, East Africa
Comments Variable Sunbird
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Behavior feeding
Sex Male
Copyright © 1997 Greg and Marybeth Dimijian
About This Page

David P. Mindell
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

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


Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to John Harshman at

Page: Tree of Life Neoaves. 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., Brown, Joseph W., and Harshman, John. 2005. Neoaves. Version 14 December 2005 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Neoaves/26305/2005.12.14 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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