tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post1606813006263661519..comments2023-06-21T06:00:43.633-05:00Comments on Biological Ramblings: Avian relationships - What do we know?slybirdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08799898402199267203noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-58685331579122207352023-01-16T12:30:09.765-05:002023-01-16T12:30:09.765-05:00Beautiful Birds!Beautiful Birds!Eagle-Eye Tourshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17107736623805685475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-18566346404695784902013-04-03T09:11:19.266-05:002013-04-03T09:11:19.266-05:00Hi there, Ive only just found your blog!? Been rea...Hi there, Ive only just found your blog!? Been reading through your posts past to present and found some really interesting stuff! This particular article interests me as I'm currently writing my dissertation looking at Avian taxonomy and its transition from morphological to molecular phylogeny. I also greatly enjoyed reading your articles titled 10,000 birds? part one and two. Amazing.Jodiemacjodioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07259836910906674946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-52768620211474080582011-12-20T11:04:02.701-05:002011-12-20T11:04:02.701-05:00I can not believe that cuckoos and turacos are not...I can not believe that cuckoos and turacos are not related to owls and parrots. They have all zygodactyl feet, what about this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-5553850200339691062008-07-20T09:56:00.000-05:002008-07-20T09:56:00.000-05:00Thank you, for reading! :)Thank you, for reading! :)slybirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08799898402199267203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-24056414272502737202008-07-19T23:06:00.000-05:002008-07-19T23:06:00.000-05:00Just wanted to add my thanks for your efforts on t...Just wanted to add my thanks for your efforts on this; it was very interesting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-84323630962665324222008-07-09T19:17:00.000-05:002008-07-09T19:17:00.000-05:00Thanks, man! Your comments are the best.Penguins -...Thanks, man! Your comments are the best.<BR/><BR/>Penguins - I didn't know about the tubular nostrils in those penguins. I'll have to look into that further. <BR/><BR/>Flufftails - look at this response:<BR/>http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=117864<BR/>It suggest Himantornis isn't basal, but those results aren't published to my knowledge.<BR/><BR/>Order names - I didn't realize those names were all previously proposed. That would explain why people are so quick to pick them up.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link to Darren's work. I've been thinking about putting some extinct birds into this work (moas, which we have molecular sequences for, and phorusrhacids, because they are cool) but I didn't get to it.<BR/><BR/>~ Nickslybirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08799898402199267203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-11218631281964909022008-07-08T22:43:00.000-05:002008-07-08T22:43:00.000-05:00Well, I'm impressed. There's only a couple of poin...Well, I'm impressed. There's only a couple of points I'd quibble about.<BR/><BR/><I>The sister relationship of penguins with the Procellariiformes isn’t one that makes a whole lot of sense</I><BR/><BR/>You know, I've always thought that it makes a great deal of sense. Tubular nostrils are actually found in juvenile little blue penguins (<I>Eudyptula minor</I>) as well as in Procellariiformes, for a start.<BR/><BR/>While of course not directly relevant to the possibility of a procellariiform-spheniscid relationship, a very similar pattern of relationship occurs in the Northern Hemisphere with the close relationship of the highly volant Laridae and the tubbier Alcidae. The alcids mostly haven't lost flight, of course, having more of a diving habitus [the strong superficial resemblance between diving petrels (<I>Pelecanoides</I>) and little auks (<I>Alle alle</I>) is legendary), but they do include the original "penguin" (which the Southern Hemisphere birds were actually named after), <I>Pinguinus impennis</I>.<BR/><BR/><I>Interestingly, a group of African rails called the flufftails (Sarothrura) are found in Hackett et al. to not be in the Rallidae proper but instead are sister to Heliornithidae.</I><BR/><BR/>I ovrlooked this! It is notable that flufftails have long been regarded as one of the basalmost groups of rails, with only <I>Himantornis haematopus</I> more basal. To the best of my knowledge, <I>Himantornis</I> has never been sampled in a molecular phylogeny. Someone needs to go on a trip to central Africa to get some genes.<BR/><BR/><I>This leaves Accipitridae, Cathartidae, Pandionidae (the Osprey), and Sagittariidae (the Secretary-Bird) in an order without a proper name – I’ve seen suggests for Accipitriformes already.</I><BR/><BR/>Accipitriformes as a separate order from Falconiformes for Accipitridae and its closest relatives has been around for some time, and was used in sources even predating Sibley and Ahlquist.<BR/><BR/><I>Clark's Grebe</I><BR/><BR/>Funnily enough, all the pictures I've seen of Clark's Grebe were from the side - I never realised they had that funky hairdo.<BR/><BR/><I>Cuckoo-Roller</I><BR/><BR/>The bird with the biggest head ever. Mein Gott, it looks like a child's doodle-bird.<BR/><BR/><I>I’ve already seen suggestions to name the Hoopoe-Hornbill group the Bucerotiformes or Upupiformes</I><BR/><BR/>Again, been about for a while. IIRC, Bucerotiformes would be the entire group, or the hornbills alone, while Upupiformes would be hoopoes if regarded as a separate order from the hornbills.<BR/><BR/><I>Seriama-Falcon-Parrot-Passerine clade</I><BR/><BR/>Morphological data has been used to support a relationship between seriemas and falcons, though maybe not exclusively. <A HREF="http://darrennaish.blogspot.com/2006/11/giant-hoatzins-of-doom.html" REL="nofollow">Darren Naish</A> wrote on it a couple of years ago.Christopher Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11075565866351612441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-13209631941298692472008-07-08T22:31:00.000-05:002008-07-08T22:31:00.000-05:00Thanks! It only took over a week to research and w...Thanks! It only took over a week to research and write :)slybirdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08799898402199267203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2100227705891731973.post-68778603444462824262008-07-08T22:22:00.000-05:002008-07-08T22:22:00.000-05:00Great post Nick. I was trained as a plant breeder...Great post Nick. I was trained as a plant breeder many years ago and I ofter wondered why more work had not been done genetically with birds, especially now that there is all that cool software to run the tests. Again, Good Work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com