Re: AW: SV: avian nomenclature

[Tim Williams <tijawi@yahoo.com>]

Evelyn Sobielski <koreke77@yahoo.de> wrote:


> In short, we have to wait til someone who has read Mayr's
> Paleogene Fossil Birds plus all the molphyl studies
> overhauls the ToLweb site, Wikipedia or whatnot. Until then,
> it's basically build-your-own-checklist :(


Speaking of Mayr, two recent papers of his are worth looking at in the context 
of bird phylogenetics:


Mayr, G. (2009). A well-preserved skull of the "falconiform" bird 
_Masillaraptor_ from the middle Eocene of Messel (Germany). Palaeodiversity 2: 
315â320. 


Mayr, G. (2009). Phylogenetic relationships of the paraphyletic 
'caprimulgiform' birds (nightjars and allies). J Zool Syst Evol Res doi: 
10.1111/j.1439-0469.2009.00552.x


The first paper avoids any firm conclusions regarding the affinities of the 
Eocene raptorial bird _Masillaraptor_, because of the polyphyletic nature of 
Falconiformes.  However, call me old-fashioned, but I'm willing to believe that 
Falconiformes (Cathartidae, Sagittariidae, Pandionidae, Accipitridae, 
Falconidae) might be monophyletic after all (despite what the molecular 
analyses say) as supported by some morphological analyses.


The second paper splits up the Caprimulgiformes, and does away with 'orders' 
altogether.  Instead, the cladogram that results from phylogenetic analysis is 
converted into a hierarchial list.  The resulting classification includes a 
slew of suprafamilial names:


1 Steatornithiformes, new taxon
1.1 Steatornithidae Bonaparte, 1842
2 Podargocypseli, new taxon
2.1 Podargiformes Mathews, 1918
2.1.1 Podargidae Bonaparte, 1838
2.2 Cypselomorphae Huxley, 1867
2.2.1 Caprimulgi Ridgway, 1881
2.2.1.1 Caprimulgidae Vigors, 1825
2.2.1.2 Nyctibiidae Chenu and des Murs, 1851
2.2.2 Apodimorphae Sibley et al., 1988
2.2.2.1 Aegotheliformes Worthy et al., 2007
2.2.2.1.1 Aegothelidae Bonaparte, 1853
2.2.2.2 Apodiformes Peters, 1940
2.2.2.2.1 Apodi Peters, 1940
2.2.2.2.1.1 Apodidae Olphe-Galliard, 1887
2.2.2.2.1.2 Hemiprocnidae Oberholser, 1906
2.2.2.2.2 Trochilidae Vigors, 1825


Cheers

Tim