Neoaves is a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

that consists of all modern birds (Neornithes or Aves) with the exception of

Paleognathae Palaeognathae (; ) is a infraclass of birds, called paleognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contain ...

(ratites and kin) and Galloanserae (ducks, chickens and kin). Almost 95% of the roughly 10,000 known species of extant birds belong to the Neoaves. The early diversification of the various neoavian groups occurred very rapidly around the

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction) was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the ...

, and attempts to resolve their relationships with each other have resulted initially in much controversy.

Phylogeny

The early diversification of the various neoavian groups occurred very rapidly around the

. As a result of the rapid radiation, attempts to resolve their relationships have produced conflicting results, some quite controversial, especially in the earlier studies. Nevertheless, some recent large phylogenomic studies of Neoaves have led to much progress on defining orders and supraordinal groups within Neoaves. Still, the studies have failed to produce to a consensus on an overall high order topology of these groups. A genomic study of 48 taxa by Jarvis ''et al''. (2014) divided Neoaves into two main clades,

Columbea Columbea is a clade suggested by genome analysis that contains Columbiformes (pigeons and doves), Pteroclidae (sandgrouse), Mesitornithidae (mesites) and Mirandornithes (flamingos and grebes). Until their recent placement as the sister taxon to ...

and

Passerea Passerea is a clade of neoavian birds that was proposed by Jarvis ''et al''. (2014). Their genomic analysis recovered two major clades within Neoaves, Passerea and Columbea, and concluded that both clades appear to have many ecologically driven ...

, but an analysis of 198 taxa by Prum ''et al''. (2015) recovered different groupings for the earliest split in Neoaves. A reanalysis with an extended dataset by Reddy ''et al''. (2017) suggested this was due to the type of sequence data, with coding sequences favouring the Prum topology. The disagreement on topology even with large phylogenomic studies led Suh (2016) to propose a hard polytomy of nine clades as the base of Neoaves. An analysis by Houde ''et al''. (2019) recovered Columbea and a reduced hard polytomy of six clades within Passerea. Despite other disagreements, these studies do agree on a number of supraorderal groups, which Reddy ''et al''. (2017) dubbed the "magnificent seven", which together with three "orphaned orders" make up Neoaves. Significantly, they both include a large waterbird clade ( Aequornithes) and a large landbird clade (

Telluraves Telluraves (also called land birds or core landbirds) is a recently defined clade of birds defined by their arboreality. Based on most recent genetic studies, the clade unites a variety of bird groups, including the australavians (passerines, p ...

). The groups defined by Reddy ''et al''. (2017) are as follows: * The "magnificent seven" supraordinal clades: #

(landbirds) # Aequornithes (waterbirds) #

Eurypygimorphae Eurypygimorphae or Phaethontimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds) and Eurypygiformes (kagu and sunbittern) recovered by genome analysis. The relationship was first identified in 2013 based on their ...

(

sunbittern The sunbittern (''Eurypyga helias'') is a bittern-like bird of tropical regions of the Americas, and the sole member of the family Eurypygidae (sometimes spelled Eurypigidae) and genus ''Eurypyga''. It is found in Central and South America, and ...

kagu The kagu or cagou (''Rhynochetos jubatus'') is a crested, long-legged, and bluish-grey bird endemic to the dense mountain forests of New Caledonia. It is the only surviving member of the genus ''Rhynochetos'' and the family Rhynochetidae, alt ...

and

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 c ...

) #

Otidimorphae The Otidimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Cuculiformes (cuckoos), Musophagiformes (turacos), and Otidiformes (bustards) identified in 2014 by genome analysis. While the bustards seem to be related to the turaco The tura ...

(

turaco The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth ( ...

bustards Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bust ...

and

cuckoos Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separa ...

) #

Strisores Strisores ( ) is a clade of birds that includes the living families and orders Caprimulgidae (nightjars, nighthawks and allies), Nyctibiidae (potoos), Steatornithidae (oilbirds), Podargidae (frogmouths), Apodiformes (swifts and hummingbirds ...

(

nightjars Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk ...

, swifts,

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

and allies) #

Columbimorphae Columbimorphae is a clade discovered by genome analysis that includes birds of the orders Columbiformes (pigeons and doves), Pterocliformes Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclidae , a family (biology), family of sixteen species of bird ...

( mesites,

sandgrouse Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclidae , a family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pterocliformes . They are traditionally placed in two genera. The two central Asian species are classified as '' Syrrhaptes'' and the othe ...

and

pigeons Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

) #

Mirandornithes Mirandornithes () is a clade that consists of flamingos and grebes. Many scholars use the term Phoenicopterimorphae for the superorder containing flamingoes and grebes. Determining the relationships of both groups has been problematic. Flamingos ...

(

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 Caribbea ...

and grebes) * The three orphaned orders: ** Opisthocomiformes (

hoatzin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ), (''Opisthocomus hoazin''), is the only species in the order Opisthocomiformes. It is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South Ameri ...

) **

Gruiformes The Gruiformes are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did ...

( cranes and

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

s) **

Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water an ...

( shorebirds,

gulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari (bird), Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and Skimmer (bird), skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders ...

and

alcids An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

)  

The following

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

illustrates the proposed relationships between all neoavian bird clades. This consensus phylogeny of birds is based on phylogenomic data, reflecting a recent phylogenomic supertree analysisKimball, R.T.; Oliveros, C.H.; Wang, N.; White, N.D.; Barker, F.K.; Field, D.J.; Ksepka, D.T.; Chesser, R.T.; Moyle, R.G.; & Braun, M.J. (2019
A phylogenomic supertree of birds
''Diversity'' 2019, 11, 109. and modified after two more recent phylogenomic studies.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2330918 Neognathae Bird superorders Extant Campanian first appearances