Near passerine
Encyclopedia
Near passerine or higher land-bird assemblage are terms often given to arboreal bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s or those most often believed to be related to the true passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

s (order Passeriformes) due to ecological similarities; the group corresponds to some extent with the Anomalogonatae of Garrod All near passerines are land birds. Whether all of these orders represent relatives of the Passeriformes is uncertain, but not well-supported by more recent data; however the bulk of evidence supports the hypothesis that most do indeed form a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 that also includes the Passeriformes. In addition, it is now becoming increasingly clear that "near passerines" and "higher landbirds" are not synonymous, but that the former is more probably a subclade of the latter, and that the latter also includes groups like Falconiformes
Falconiformes
The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that comprises the diurnal birds of prey. Raptor classification is difficult and the order is treated in several ways.- Classification problems :...



The near passerines traditionally comprise the following orders (with common names of some families in the orders):
  • Pterocliformes: sandgrouse
  • Columbiformes
    Columbiformes
    Columbiformes are an avian order that includes the very widespread and successful doves and pigeons, classified in the family Columbidae, and the extinct Dodo and the Rodrigues Solitaire, long classified as a second family Raphidae. 313 species, found worldwide, comprise the Columbiformes order....

    : pigeons
  • Psittaciformes: parrots
  • Cuculiformes
    Cuculiformes
    The near passerine bird order Cuculiformes traditionally included three families as below:* Musophagidae - turacos and allies* Cuculidae - cuckoos, coucals, roadrunners and anis* Opisthocomidae - Hoatzin...

    : cuckoos
  • Strigiformes: owls
  • Caprimulgiformes
    Caprimulgiformes
    The Caprimulgiformes is an order of birds that includes a number of birds with global distribution . They are generally insectivorous and nocturnal...

    : nightjars
  • Apodiformes
    Apodiformes
    Traditionally, the bird order Apodiformes contained three living families: the swifts , the tree swifts , and the hummingbirds . In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this order is raised to a superorder Apodimorphae in which hummingbirds are separated as a new order, Trochiliformes...

    : swifts, hummingbirds
  • Coliiformes: mousebirds
  • Trogoniformes: trogons, quetzals
  • Coraciiformes
    Coraciiformes
    The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colorful near passerine birds including the kingfishers, the Hoopoe, the bee-eaters, the rollers, and the hornbills...

    : kingfishers, hornbills
  • Piciformes
    Piciformes
    Nine families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes, the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives...

    : woodpeckers, toucans


Of these, the relationship of the Strigiformes is uncertain, whereas the first three groups almost certainly do not belong here; sandgrouse (Pterocliformes) may not even be higher landbirds. The Cuculiformes, Piciformes, Coraciiformes (including hornbill
Hornbill
Hornbills are a family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly-colored and sometimes has a casque on the upper mandible. Both the common English and the scientific name of the family...

s) and Trogoniformes seem to be very close to the Passeriformes on the other hand (Johansson & Ericson 2003), and one of these almost certainly is—among the living birds—the sister taxon of the Passeriformes.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK