Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s. It includes about 350
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
and has members in all parts of the world. Most Charadriiformes live near water and eat
invertebrateAn invertebrate is an animal without a vertebral column. The group includes 95% of all animal species — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata ....
s or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (sea birds), some occupy deserts and a few are found in thick forest.
.
The order was formerly divided into three suborders:
- The wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s (or "Charadrii"): typical shorebirds, most of which feed by probing in the mud or picking items off the surface in both coastal and freshwater environments.
- The gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
s and their allies (or "Lari"): these are generally larger species which take fish from the sea.
Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
s. It includes about 350
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
and has members in all parts of the world. Most Charadriiformes live near water and eat
invertebrateAn invertebrate is an animal without a vertebral column. The group includes 95% of all animal species — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata ....
s or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (sea birds), some occupy deserts and a few are found in thick forest.
Systematics
.
The order was formerly divided into three suborders:
- The wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s (or "Charadrii"): typical shorebirds, most of which feed by probing in the mud or picking items off the surface in both coastal and freshwater environments.
- The gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
s and their allies (or "Lari"): these are generally larger species which take fish from the sea. Several gulls and skuaA skua is a seabird of the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America.The name skua comes from Faroese skúgvur , but this word only applies to the species Stercorarius skua, and the island of Skúvoy is renowned for its colony of that bird. The generic...
s will also take food items from beaches, or rob smaller species, and some have become adapted to inland environments.
- The auk
Auks are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. They are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their habits...
s (or "Alcae") are coastal species which nest on sea cliffs and "fly" underwater to catch fish.
The
Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomyThe Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon Edward Ahlquist. It is based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s....
, which has been widely accepted in America, lumps all the Charadriiformes together with the
seabirdSeabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s and
birds of preyBirds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as any bird that kills its prey with its talons. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh. In most cases,...
into a greatly enlarged order
CiconiiformesTraditionally, the order Ciconiiformes has included a variety of large, long-legged wading birds with large bills: storks, herons, egrets, ibises, spoonbills, and several others. Ciconiiformes are known from the Late Eocene...
. However, the resolution of the DNA-DNA hybridization technique used by Sibley & Ahlquist was not sufficient to properly resolve the relationships in this group, and indeed it appears as if the Charadriiformes consititute a single large and very distinctive lineage of modern birds of their own.
The auks, usually considered distinct because of their peculiar morphology, are more likely related to gulls, the "distinctness" being a result of adaptation for diving. Following recent research, a better arrangement may be as follows:
Families in taxonomic order
.This is a list of the charadriiform
familiesIn biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus...
, presented in
taxonomic orderTaxonomic sequence is a sequence followed in listing of taxa which aids ease of use and roughly reflects the evolutionary relationships among the taxa...
.
- Suborder Scolopaci: snipe-like waders
- Family Scolopacidae
The Scolopacidae are a large family of waders, . Many of the smaller species are often called "sandpipers", especially members of genera Calidris, Tringa and Actitis. Other well-known groups include curlews and snipes. The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil...
: snipe, sandpipers, phalaropes, and allies
- Suborder Thinocori: aberrant charadriforms
- Family Rostratulidae
Painted snipes are three distinctive wader species in the family Rostratulidae. The family is composed to two genera, Rostratula and Nycticryphes. The Australian Painted Snipe is often treated as a subspecies of the Greater Painted Snipe, but morphological and genetic differences have resulted in...
: painted snipe
- Family Jacanidae
For the Melbourne suburb, see Jacana, Victoria.The jacanas or jaçanas are a group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone...
: jacanas
- Family Thinocoridae
The seedsnipes are a family, Thinocoridae, of small gregarious waders which have adapted to a herbivorous diet. The family is divided into two genera, Attagis and Thinocorus, each containing two species. The family has a South American distribution, in the Andean and Patagonian regions...
: seedsnipe
- Family Pedionomidae
The Plains-wanderer, Pedionomus torquatus, or Plains Wanderer, is a unique bird and is put in a family of its own. It is endemic to Australia.-Description:...
: Plains Wanderer
- Suborder Lari
The suborder Lari is the part of the order Charadriiformes which includes the gulls, terns, skuas and skimmers, with the waders and snipes making up the rest of the order. Following recent research, the auks are now placed into the Lari too; the Glareolidae might constitute a distinct suborder...
: gulls and allies
- Family Laridae
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
: gulls
- Family Rhynchopidae: skimmers
- Family Sternidae
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
: terns
- Family Alcidae
Auks are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. They are superficially similar to penguins due to their black-and-white colours, their upright posture and some of their habits...
: puffins, guillemots, murres, and allies
- Family Stercorariidae
A skua is a seabird of the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America.The name skua comes from Faroese skúgvur , but this word only applies to the species Stercorarius skua, and the island of Skúvoy is renowned for its colony of that bird. The generic...
: skuas
- Family Glareolidae
Glareolidae is a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadri. It contains two distinct groups, the pratincoles and the coursers. The coursers include the atypical Egyptian Plover, Pluvianus aegyptius, which has sometimes been placed in its own family...
: pratincoles and coursers
- Family Dromadidae
The Crab-plover or Crab Plover is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Dromadidae. Its relationship within the Charadriiformes is unclear , some have considered it to be closely related to the thick-knees, or the pratincoles, while others have...
: Crab Plover
- Suborder Turnici: buttonquails
- Family Turnicidae: buttonquails
- Suborder Chionidi: thick-knees and allies
- Family Burhinidae
The Stone-curlews or Thick-knees are a group of largely tropical birds,in the family Burhinidae. Despite the group being classed as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semi-arid habitats...
: thick-knees
- Family Chionididae
The sheathbills are a family of birds, Chionididae. Classified in the wader order Charadriiformes, the family contains one genus, Chionis, with only two species...
: sheathbills
- Family Pluvianellidae
The Magellanic Plover, Pluvianellus socialis, is a rare and unique wader found only in southernmost South America. It was long placed in with the other plovers in the family Charadriidae, however behavioural evidence suggested they were distinct, and molecular studies confirmed this, suggesting...
: Magellanic Plover
- Suborder Charadrii: plover-like waders
- Family Ibidorhynchidae
The Ibisbill is a bird related to the waders, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family Ibidorhynchidae. It lives on the shingle riverbanks of the high plateau of central Asia and the Himalayas.-Description:...
: Ibisbill
- Family Recurvirostridae
Recurvirostridae is a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadrii. It contains two distinct groups of birds, the avocets and the stilts .-Description and diet:...
: avocets and stilts
- Family Haematopodidae
The oystercatchers are a group of waders; they form the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia...
: oystercatchers
- Family Charadriidae
The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 66 species in all. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings...
: plovers and lapwings
More conservatively, the Thinocori could be included in the Scolopaci, and the Chionidi in the Charadrii, or the Glareolidae could be placed in a tribe of their own. The buttonquails are of indeterminate, quite
basalIn phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
position in the Lari-Scolopaci
sensu lato group. The arrangement as presented here is a consensus of the recent studies.
Evolution
That the Charadriiformes are an ancient group is also borne out by the fossil record. Much of the Neornithes' fossil record around the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event is made up of bits and pieces of birds which resemble this order. In many, this is probably due to
convergent evolutionConvergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are similar in...
brought about by semi-aquatic habits. Specimen VI 9901 (
López de Bertodano FormationThe Lopez de Bertodano Formation is a geological formation in Antarctica whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.-Vertebrate paleofauna:...
,
Late CretaceousThe Late Cretaceous is the youngest of two epochs in which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
of
Vega IslandVega Island is a small island to the northwest of James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula.It is one of several islands around the peninsula known as Graham Land, which is closer to South America than any other part of that continent....
, Antarctica) is probably a
basalIn phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
charadriiform somewhat reminiscent of a thick-knee. However, more complete remains of undisputed charadriiforms are known only from the mid-
PaleogeneThe Paleogene is a geologic period and system that began 65.5 ± 0.3 and ended 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic era...
onwards. Present-day orders emerged around the
EoceneThe Eocene epoch, lasting from 55.8 ± 0.2 to 33.9 ± 0.1 Ma , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in the Cenozoic era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene epoch. The start of the...
-
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
boundary, roughly 35-30
myaIn astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case...
. Basal or unresolved charadriiforms are:
- "Morsoravis" (Late Paleocene/Early Eocene of Jutland, Denmark) - a nomen nudum
The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name". In taxonomy, this is used to indicate a term or phrase which looks like a scientific name, and may well have been intended to become a scientific name, but fails to be one because it was not published with an adequate description ,...
?
- Jiliniornis (Huadian Middle Eocene of Huadian, China) - charadriid?
- Boutersemia (Early Oligocene of Boutersem, Belgium) - glareolid?
- Turnipax (Early Oligocene) - turnicid?
- Elorius (Early Miocene Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France)
- "Larus" desnoyersii (Early Miocene of SE France) - larid? stercorarid?
- "Larus" pristinus (John Day Early Miocene of Willow Creek, USA) - larid?
- Charadriiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) - charadriid? scolopacid?
- Charadriiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) - charadriid? scolopacid?
- Charadriiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) - larid?
- Charadriiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary
- "Totanus" teruelensis (Late Miocene of Los Mansuetos, Spain) - scolopacid? larid?
The "transitional shorebirds" ("Graculavidae") are a generally
MesozoicThe Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon. The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the "Mesozoic" was "Secondary" The Mesozoic Era is one of three geologic eras of the...
form taxonForm taxon is a biological term with two uses:In general taxonomy, it is a kind of wastebasket taxon, either a taxon that is not a natural group but united by shared plesiomorphies, or a presumably artificial group of organisms whose true relationships are not known, being obscured by...
formerly believed to constitute the common ancestors of charadriiforms,
waterfowlWaterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans.They are strong swimmers with medium to large bodies. They have historically been an important food source, and continue to be hunted as game, or raised as...
and
flamingoFlamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus and family Phoenicopteridae. They are found in both the Western Hemisphere and in the Eastern Hemisphere, but are more numerous in the latter. There are four species in the Americas and two species in the Old World...
s. They are now assumed to be mostly basal taxa of the charadriiforms and/or "higher waterbirds", which probably were two distinct lineages 65
myaIn astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case...
already, and few if any are still believed to be related to the well-distinct weaterfowl. Taxa formerly considered graculavids are:
- Laornithidae - charadriiform? gruiform?
- Laornis
Laornis is a genus of a prehistoric neornithine birds, known only from Specimen YPM 820, a single tibiotarsus leg bone discovered in the late 1800s. Consequently the genus is monotypic, containing only the species Laornis edvardsianus. Regarding its scientific name, Laornis means "stone bird", from...
(Late Cretaceous?)
- "Graculavidae"
- Graculavus
Graculavus is a prehistoric bird genus that was described by O. C. Marsh. Its remains were found in the Late Cretaceous Austin Chalk of Texas and Lance Formation , and the controversial Hornerstown Formation which straddles the Cretaceous-Paleocene boundary, possibly dating to the Danian stage...
(Lance Creek Late Cretaceous - Hornerstown Late Cretaceous/Early Palaeocene) - charadriiform?
- Palaeotringa
Palaeotringa is a prehistoric bird genus that was discovered by O. C. Marsh during the bone wars. Its remains were found in the controversial Hornerstown Formation of New Jersey which straddles the Cretaceous-Paleocene boundary some 66 million years ago...
(Hornerstown Late Cretaceous?) - charadriiform?
- Telmatornis
Telmatornis is a prehistoric bird genus of unclear affiliations. It apparently lived in the Late Cretaceous; its remains were found in the early Maastrichtian Navesink Formation of New Jersey. A single species is included today, Telmatornis priscus...
(Navesink Late Cretaceous?) - charadriiform? gruiform?
- Scaniornis
Scaniornis is a prehistoric bird genus. The only species, Scaniornis lundgreni, lived in the MP 1-5 ....
- phoenicopteriform?
- Zhylgaia
Zhylgaia is a genus of birds known only from fossils. Its remains have been recovered from a Late Cretaceous or Paleogene deposit in Central Asia....
- presbyornithid?
- Dakotornis
- "Graculavidae" gen. et sp. indet. (Gloucester County, USA)
Other wader- or gull-like birds
incertae sedis, which may or may not be Charadriiformes, are:
- Ceramornis
Ceramornis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived shortly before the K-Pg mass extinction in the Maastrictian, some 67 million years ago . Its remains were found in the Lull 2 location, a Lance Formation site in Niobrara County, Wyoming . A single species is known,...
(Lance Creek Late Cretaceous)
- "Cimolopteryx
Cimolopteryx is a dubious prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived around the Maastrichtian boundary, some 70 million years ago, perhaps a bit earlier in the Campanian...
" (Lance Creek Late Cretaceous)
- Palintropus
Palintropus is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived in the Maastrichtian, some 69 million years ago. Its remains were found in the Lance Formation of North America...
(Lance Creek Late Cretaceous)
- Torotix
Torotix is a Late Cretaceous genus of aquatic bird. It lived along the shores of the Western Interior Seaway, but it is not clear whether it was a seabird or a freshwater bird, as it is only known from a humerus. Consequently, the genus is monotypic, with the single species Torotix clemensi.It...
(Late Cretaceous)
- Volgavis (Early Paleocene of Volgograd, Russia)
- Eupterornis (Paleocene of France)
- Neornithes incerta sedis (Late Paleocene/Early Eocene of Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco)
- Fluviatitavis (Early Eocene of Silveirinha, Portugal)