1. Discovery of a relict lineage and monotypic family of passerine birds
- Author
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Alström, Per, Hooper, Daniel M., Liu, Yang, Olsson, Urban, Mohan, Dhananjai, Gelang, Magnus, Le Manh, Hung, Zhao, Jian, Lei, Fumin, and Price, Trevor D.
- Abstract
Analysis of one of the most comprehensive datasets to date of the largest passerine bird clade, Passerida, identified 10 primary well-supported lineages corresponding to Sylvioidea, Muscicapoidea, Certhioidea, Passeroidea, the ‘bombycillids’ (here proposed to be recognized as Bombycilloidea), Paridae/Remizidae (proposed to be recognized as Paroidea), Stenostiridae, Hyliotidae, Regulidae (proposed to be recognized as Reguloidea) and spotted wren-babbler Spelaeornis formosus. The latter was found on a single branch in a strongly supported clade with Muscicapoidea, Certhioidea and Bombycilloidea, although the relationships among these were unresolved. We conclude that the spotted wren-babbler represents a relict basal lineage within Passerida with no close extant relatives, and we support the already used name Elachura formosaand propose the new family name Elachuridae for this single species.
- Published
- 2014
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