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1. Fumin Lei is no longer listed as an author of this article. Instead, his helpful input is noted in the acknowledgements section. 2. The provisional version of this article mistakenly stated that zebra finch belongs to the Paridae family. We have now corrected this error to reflect the classification of this species to the Estrildidae family. 3. In the abstract of the provisional version of the article we stated that the phylogeny of the ground tit was confirmed as belonging to the Paridae family. We have now re-phrased this sentence to say that ground tit phylogeny was confirmed as not belonging to the Corvidae family. 4. In the conclusions of the provisional version of the article we stated that the phylogeny of the ground tit was confirmed as not belonging to the Corvidae family but to the Paridae family. We have now re-phrased this conclusion to say that ground tit phylogeny was confirmed as not belonging to the Corvidae family.

Background: The mechanism of high-altitude adaptation has been studied in certain mammals. However, in avian species like the ground tit Pseudopodoces humilis, the adaptation mechanism remains unclear. The phylogeny of the ground tit is also controversial. Results: Using next generation sequencing technology, we generated and assembled a draft genome sequence of the ground tit. The assembly contained 1.04 Gb of sequence that covered 95.4% of the whole genome and had higher N50 values, at the level of both scaffolds and contigs, than other sequenced avian genomes. About 1.7 million SNPs were detected, 16,998 protein-coding genes were predicted and 7% of the genome was identified as repeat sequences. Comparisons between the ground tit genome and other avian genomes revealed a conserved genome structure and confirmed the phylogeny of ground tit as not belonging to the Corvidae family. Gene family expansion and positively selected gene analysis revealed genes that were related to cardiac function. Our findings contribute to our understanding of the adaptation of this species to extreme environmental living conditions. Conclusions: Our data and analysis contribute to the study of avian evolutionary history and provide new insights into the adaptation mechanisms to extreme conditions in animals.