Ardeidae
Herons
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.
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.
close boxRelationships after Sheldon 1987, Sheldon et al. 1995, and Sheldon et al. 2000.
References
Kushlan, J. A. and J. Hancock. 2005. The Herons: Ardeidae. Bird Families of the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York.
McCracken, K. G. and F. H. Sheldon. 1997. Avian vocalizations and phylogenetic signal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 94:3833-3836.
McCracken, K. G. and F. H. Sheldon. 1998. Molecular and osteological heron phylogenies: sources of incongruence. Auk 115:127–141.
Sheldon, F. H. 1987. Phylogeny of herons estimated from DNA-DNA hybridization data. Auk 104:97-108.
Sheldon, F. H., C. E. Jones, and K. G. McCracken. 2000. Relative patterns and rates of evolution in heron nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17:437-450.
Sheldon, F. H., K. G. McCracken, and K. D. Stuebing. 1995. Phylogenetic relationships of the zigzag heron (Zebrilus undulatus) and white-crested bittern (Tigriornis leucolophus) estimated by DNA-DNA hybridization. Auk 112(3):672-679.
Sheldon, F. H. and B. Slikas. 1997. Advances in Ciconiiform Systematics. Colonial Waterbirds 20(1):106-114.
Title Illustrations
| Location | Delta del Llobregat, Catalunya, Spain |
|---|---|
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Source | MARTINET ROS |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Image Use |
 This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
|
| Copyright | © 2007 Andreu Anguera |
| Scientific Name | Butorides striata |
|---|---|
| Location | Sunset Dam, Lower Sabie, Kruger National Park, South Africa |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Source | A fish, My kingdom for a fish |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Copyright |
© 2006 Callie de Wet
|
| Scientific Name | Egretta garzetta |
|---|---|
| Location | Afurada, Gaia, Portugal |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Behavior | flying |
| Source | Garça branca / Little Egret |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Image Use |
This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
|
| Copyright | © 2006 Isidro Vila Verde |
About This Page
Page copyright © 2008
Page: Tree of Life
Ardeidae. Herons.
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- First online 27 June 2008
- Content changed 27 June 2008
Citing this page:
Tree of Life Web Project. 2008. Ardeidae. Herons. Version 27 June 2008 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Ardeidae/26331/2008.06.27 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
