Phylogeny of Modern Birds

Palaeognathae

The Palaeognathae received their name from the ancient Greek word for "old jaws", paleognath, in reference to the skeletal anatomy of the palate. Traditionally there is a split between the ratites, who are flightless, and the tinamous, ground dwelling birds from South America and Mexico. But the last group of birds can fly. Recent analyses showed that the ratites are polyphyletic. 

The Palaeognathae contain eight groups, six extant and two extinct. The relationships between the groups are still under debate. But it seems that the Strutionidae are most primitive. The Casuaridae, the Dromaiidae and the Apterygidae form a clade. The position of the other clades, Aepyornithidae, Rheidae, Tinamiformes and Dinornithidae, remains uncertain.  

 

 

Articles

12/10/2010 14:32

A new Transantarctic relationship: morphological evidence for a Rheidae–Dromaiidae–Casuariidae clade (Aves, Palaeognathae, Ratitae)

A new Transantarctic relationship: morphological evidence for a Rheidae–Dromaiidae–Casuariidae clade (Aves, Palaeognathae, Ratitae)   ESTELLE BOURDON, ARMAND DE RICQLES and JORGE CUBO   Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 156, 641–663   Abstract. Although...
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12/10/2010 14:26

Tinamous and Moa Flock Together: Mitochondrial Genome Sequence Analysis Reveals Losses of Flight among Ratites

Tinamous and Moa Flock Together: Mitochondrial Genome Sequence Analysis Reveals Losses of Flight among Ratites   MATTHEW J. PHILLIPS1, GILLIAN C. GIBB, ELIZABETH A. CRIMP, AND DAVID PENNY   Syst. Biol. 59(1):90–107, 2010   Abstract.—Ratites are large, flightless birds and...
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