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Eurypygae
Eurypygiformes is an order formed by the kagus, comprising two species in the family Rhynochetidae endemic to New Caledonia, and the sunbittern (''Eurypyga helias'') from the tropical regions of the Americas. Its closest relatives appear to be the tropicbirds of the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Classification The affinities of Eurypygiformes are not very well resolved. The group consists of two families from a Gondwanan lineage of birds. Based on some morphological characteristics, they were initially classed as members of the family Ardeidae, and later the Gruiformes. According to Jarvis, et al.'s 2014 "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds", the group is distantly related to the Phaethontiformes.Whole-geno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metaves
Metaves ("other birds") is a controversial group proposed by Fain & Houde (2004) and later rescued on the studies of Ericson ''et al.'' (2006)Ericson, P.G.P. ''et al.'' (2006Diversification of Neoaves: integration of molecular sequence data and fossils. Biology Letters, 2(4):543–547 and Hackett ''et al.'' (2008).Hackett, S.J. ''et al.'' (2008A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History ''Science'', 320(5884):1763–1768. This group consists of several lineages that diversified early in Neornithes evolution. These lineages include Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, nightjars and allies), pigeons, sandgrouses, mesites, Eurypygae (sunbittern and kagu), tropicbirds and Mirandornithes (flamingos and grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably ...s), but the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruiformes
The Gruiformes are an order (biology), order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird family (biology), families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. These include 14 species of large crane (bird), cranes, about 145 species of smaller Rallidae, crakes and rails, as well as a variety of families comprising one to three species, such as the Heliornithidae, the limpkin, or the Psophiidae. Other birds have been placed in this order more out of necessity to place them ''somewhere''; this has caused the expanded Gruiformes to lack distinctive apomorphies. Recent studies indicate that these "odd Gruiformes" are if at all only loosely related to the cranes, rails, and relatives ("core Gruiformes"). Systematics There are only two suprafamilial clades (natural groups) among the birds t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynochetidae
''Rhynochetos'' is a genus of ground-dwelling birds in the monotypic family Rhynochetidae. It contains two species, both endemic to New Caledonia, one of which is extinct. Taxonomy ''Rhynochetos jubatus'' is the only extant species of this genus and of the family Rhynochetidae. It is closely related to tropic bird of tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans with its closest living relative being the Sunbittern (''Eurypyga helias''). Currently there are two described species of ''Rhynochetos,'' however, it has been suggested that the extinct ''Rhynochetos orarius'' and the extant ''Rhynochetos jubatus'' are in fact the same species. Species * ''Rhynochetos jubatus'' Verreaux & Des Murs, 1860 – kagu * †''Rhynochetos orarius'' Balouet & Olson, 1989 – lowland kagu The lowland kagu (''Rhynochetos orarius'') is a large, extinct species of kagu. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the south-west Pacific region. It was described from subfossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesite
The mesites (Mesitornithidae) are a family of birds that are part of a clade (Columbimorphae) that include Columbiformes and Pterocliformes. They are smallish flightless or near flightless birds endemic to Madagascar. They are the only family with more than two species in which every species is threatened (all three are listed as vulnerable). Description The mesites are forest and scrubland birds that feed on insects and seeds. The brown and white-breasted mesites forage on the ground, gleaning insects from the leaves and under them, as well as low vegetation. The subdesert mesite uses its long bill to probe in the soil. Other birds, such as drongos and flycatchers, will follow mesites to catch any insects they flush and miss. Mesites are vocal birds, with calls similar to passerine song, used for territorial defence. Two or three white eggs are laid in a stick-nest located in a bush or low branch. The ''Mesitornis'' species are monogamous while ''Monias benschi'' is polygamous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lowland Kagu
The lowland kagu (''Rhynochetos orarius'') is a large, extinct species of kagu. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the south-west Pacific region. It was described from subfossil bones found at the Pindai Caves paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre. The holotype is a right tibiotarsus (NCP 700), held by the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. The specific epithet comes from the Latin ''orarius'' (of the coast) from its presumed lowland distribution, as opposed to its congener the living kagu ''R. jubatus''. Description The general proportions of the various bones of the lowland kagu are very similar to those of the kagu. They differ in the greater size of the extinct species in averaging about 15% larger, with no overlap between the hindlimb elements and only rare overlap between those of the wings. The describers postulate that ''R. orarius'' and ''R. jubatus'' were lowland and highland forms, respectively. Taxonomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Down Feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding (duvets and featherbeds), pillows and sleeping bags. The discovery of feathers trapped in ancient amber suggests that some species of dinosaur may have possessed down-like feathers. Description and etymology The word ''down'' comes from the Old Norse word ''dúnn'', which had the same meaning as its modern equivalent. The down feather is considered to be the most "straightforward" of all feather types. It has a short or vestigial rachis (shaft), few barbs, and barbules that lack hooks. There are three types of down: natal down, body down and powder down. Natal down is the layer of down feathers that cover most birds at some point in their early development. Precocial nestlings are alre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grebes
Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably in stable lakes. The order contains a single family (biology), family, the Podicipedidae, which includes 22 species in six extant genus, genera. Although, superficially, they resemble other diving birds such as loons and coots, they are most closely related to flamingos, as supported by morphology (biology), morphological, molecular and paleontology, paleontological data. Many species are monogamy in animals, monogamous and are known for their courtship displays, with the pair performing synchronized dances across the water's surface. The birds build floating vegetative nests where they lay several eggs. About a third of the world's grebes are listed at various levels of conservation concerns—the bigges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandgrouse
Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclidae , a family (biology), family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pterocliformes . They are traditionally placed in two Genus, genera. The two central Asian species are classified as ''Syrrhaptes'' and the other fourteen species, from Africa and Asia, are placed in the genus ''Pterocles''. They are ground dwelling birds restricted to treeless, open country, such as plains, savannahs, and semi-deserts. They are distributed across northern, southern, and eastern Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and India through central Asia. The ranges of the black-bellied sandgrouse and the pin-tailed sandgrouse even extend into the Iberian Peninsula and France, and Pallas's sandgrouse occasionally Irruptive growth, breaks out in large numbers from its normal range in Asia. Description Sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks and sturdy compact bodies. They range in size from in length and from in weight. The adults are sex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apodiformes
Traditionally, the bird order Apodiformes contained three living families: the swifts (Apodidae), the treeswifts (Hemiprocnidae), and the hummingbirds (Trochilidae). In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this order is raised to a superorder Apodimorphae in which hummingbirds are separated as a new order, Trochiliformes. With nearly 450 species identified to date, they are the most diverse order of birds after the passerines. Description As their name ("footless" in Greek) suggests, their legs are small and have limited function aside from perching. The feet are covered with bare skin rather than the scales (scutes) that other birds have. Another shared characteristic is long wings with short, stout humerus bones. The evolution of these wing characteristics has provided the hummingbird with ideal wings for hovering.Mayr, Gerald (2003): Phylogeny of early tertiary swifts and hummingbirds (Aves: Apodiformes). ''Auk'' 120(1): 145–151.PDF fulltext The hummingbirds, swifts, and cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropicbirds
Tropicbirds are a family, Phaethontidae, of tropical pelagic seabirds. They are the sole living representatives of the order Phaethontiformes. For many years they were considered part of the Pelecaniformes, but genetics indicates they are most closely related to the Eurypygiformes. There are three species in one genus, ''Phaethon''. The scientific names are derived from Ancient Greek ''phaethon'', "sun". They have predominantly white plumage with elongated tail feathers and small feeble legs and feet. Taxonomy, systematics and evolution The genus ''Phaethon'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The name is from Ancient Greek ''phaethōn'' meaning "sun". The type species was designated as the red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') by George Robert Gray in 1840. Tropicbirds were traditionally grouped in the order Pelecaniformes, which contained the pelicans, cormorants and shags, darters, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flamingos
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean), and two species native to Afro-Eurasia. A group of flamingoes is called a "flamboyance." Etymology The name ''flamingo'' comes from Portuguese or Spanish ("flame-colored"), which in turn comes from Provençal – a combination of ("flame") and a Germanic-like suffix ''-ing''. The word may also have been influenced by the Spanish ethnonym ("Fleming" or "Flemish"). The name of the genus, ''Phoenicopterus'', is from the Greek , ); other genera names include ''Phoeniconaias,'' which means "crimson/red water nymph (or naiad)", and ''Phoenicoparrus,'' which means "crimson/red bird (though, an unknown bird of omen)". Taxonomy and systematics The family Phoenicopteridae was introduced by the French zoologist Charles Lucien Bonapar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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