The Sibley-Monroe checklist is a list of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
species based on a study conducted by
Charles Sibley
Charles Gald Sibley (August 7, 1917 – April 12, 1998) was an American ornithologist and molecular biologist. He had an immense influence on the scientific classification of birds, and the work that Sibley initiated has substantially altered our u ...
and
Burt Monroe
Burt Leavelle Monroe, Jr. (25 August 1930 – 14 May 1994, in Louisville, Kentucky) was an American ornithologist, a professor at the University of Louisville, a member of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) beginning in 1953. Among his major ...
. It drew on extensive
DNA-DNA hybridisation studies to reassess the relationships between modern birds. It was considered a landmark in ornithology on its release.
The Sibley-Monroe assignment of individual species to families, and of families to orders remains controversial. Critics maintain that while it marks a great leap forward so far as the evidence from DNA-DNA hybridisation goes, it pays insufficient attention to other forms of evidence, both molecular and on a larger scale. There is no true consensus, but the broad middle-ground position is that the Sibley-Monroe classification, overall, is "about 80% correct". Research and debate concerning bird classification continue. There are 9994 species on the checklist.
See also
*
Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy of birds
The Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy is a bird taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon E. Ahlquist. It is based on DNA–DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.
DNA–DNA hybridization is among a class of co ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibley-Monroe checklist
Ornithological checklists