18-594: Pseudasturidae (Mayr, 2002) Halcyornithidae is an extinct family of telluravian birds thought to be related to the Psittaciformes (parrots), Passeriformes (songbirds), and to the extinct Messelasturidae . Halcyornithids have been found in various Eocene formations in Europe and North America . Widespread and diverse in the Early Eocene of North America and Europe, halcyornithids are not found in locales later than
36-413: A clade (Eutelluraves) comprising the remaining Afroavian orders and Australaves ., while an analysis by Houde et al . (2019) recovered a clade of accipitrimorphs and owls as sister to the remaining landbirds. Wu et al. (2024) also found recovered and found support the clade of accipitrimorphs and owls (which they have named Hieraves ), but found the clade to be sister to Australaves, while Coraciimorphae
54-582: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zygodactylidae † Eozygodactylus † Primoscens † Primozygodactylus † Zygodactylus Primoscenidae Mayr 1998 Zygodactylidae is a family of extinct birds found in Europe and North America from the Eocene epoch to the Middle Miocene . First named in 1971, based on fragmentary remains of two species from Germany, a more complete description of
72-463: 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 , parrots , seriemas , and falcons ) as well as the afroavians (including the Accipitrimorphae – eagles , hawks , buzzards , vultures etc. – owls and woodpeckers , among others). This grouping
90-725: Is the basal most clade in Telluraves. The cladogram of the Telluraves shown below is based on the study by Josefin Stiller and collaborators published in 2024. The species numbers are taken from the December 2023 version of the list maintained by Frank Gill , Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). This list includes the Cathartiformes (New World vultures) in
108-510: The Middle Eocene . Halcyornithids were small, arboreal birds with zygodactyl feet, with two toes facing forwards and two facing back, a trait shared with other tree-dwelling families of Eocene birds like the Zygodactylidae and the messelasturids. The skull of halcyornithids features a ridge of bone above the eye called the supraorbital process, similar to birds of prey. The relationships of
126-430: The birds became possible in 2008 when a number of other, better-preserved fossil species were assigned to the family based on a number of shared characteristics. The name of the group comes from the presence of a zygodactyl foot, with two toes projecting forward, and two to the rear. This is the same arrangement as seen in living parrots and woodpeckers , and the zygodactylids were at one time thought to be related to
144-574: The eyeball from injury, for example, such as might be caused by struggling prey animals being killed with the beak. The morphology of the head is overall similar to that of messelasturids, but in halcyornithids, the mandible is proportionally much longer. A high diversity of halcyornithid birds is found in the Eocene London Clay in England , from sites near Walton-on-the-Naze and the Isle of Sheppey . Of
162-486: The halcyornithids to other birds remain uncertain. Halcyornithids have been proposed as relatives to owls and as a lineage closer to parrots than to songbirds. Most recently, halcyornithids have been identified as the sister group of the clade including parrots and songbirds. It is also possible that Halcyornithidae is paraphyletic with respect to the Messelasturidae . Halcyornithids are recognisable by details of
180-418: The last common ancestor of all Telluraves may have been an apex predator, and possibly also a bird of prey. Other researchers are skeptical of this assessment, citing the herbivorous cariamiform Strigogyps as evidence to the contrary. Afroaves has not always been recovered as a monophyletic clade in subsequent studies. For instance, Prum et al. (2015) recovered the accipitrimorphs as the sister group to
198-922: The most recent evidence of halcyornithids, of Middle Eocene age, the Fur Formation in Denmark , and the Egem in Belgium . From the Menat in France is a skeleton tentatively believed to be a halcyornithid, which may also be of Paleocene age. In the North America , halcyornithids have been found in the Green River Formation of the US state of Utah as well as the Nanjemoy Formation of
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#1732851341568216-720: The order Accipitriformes. Strigiformes (owls – 254 species) Cathartiformes (New World vultures – 7 species) Accipitriformes ( hawks , osprey and secretarybird – 258 species) Coliiformes (mouse birds – 6 species) Leptosomiformes (cuckoo roller – 1 species) Trogoniformes (trogons and quetzals – 46 species) Bucerotiformes ( hornbills and relatives – 77 species) Coraciiformes ( kingfishers and relatives – 186 species) Piciformes ( woodpeckers and relatives – 448 species) Cariamiformes (seriemas – 2 species) Falconiformes (falcons – 65 species) Psittaciformes (parrots – 408 species) Passeriformes (passerines – 6,719 species) This bird-related article
234-414: The others. The humerus is long and slender, and the coracoid is shaped like that found in owls, and has a foramen for the supracoracoideus nerve. The skulls of halcyornithids bear a prominent shelf of bone above the upper margin of the eye, the supraorbital process, comparable to that present in falcons and other birds of prey. One proposed function of the supraorbital process is mechanical protection of
252-425: The skull and limbs. The tarsometatarsus , the lowermost bone of the leg, is short and shaped like those of parrots. The distal end of the tarsometatarsus has a projection of bone that supports the fourth toe, which is reversed and faces backwards. Unlike in parrots, however, this projection is not separated by a groove from the rest of the trochlea supporting the other toes. The third toe is strongly built, more so than
270-587: The specimens collected from that location, almost none do not bear minor morphological dissimilarities to others, indicating that there were likely many species living in the area, comprising an adaptive radiation . Halcyornithids are also known from the Messel Pit , in Germany , where specimens likewise exhibit diversity. Other halcyornithid-bearing sites in Europe include the Geisel Valley of Germany, which has produced
288-597: The state of Virginia . Placement of the Halcyornithidae after Ksepka et. al, 2019. Cariamiformes (seriemas and kin) Falconiformes (falcons) Halcyornithidae Psittaciformes (parrots) Psittacopedidae Zygodactylidae Passeriformes (songbirds) Internal classification of the Halcyornithidae and Messelasturidae after Mayr & Kitchener, 2022. Pseudasturides Cyrilavis Serudaptus Messelastur Tynskya Telluraves Telluraves (also called land birds or core landbirds )
306-407: The woodpecker family. More recent analyses, however, have shown that they are more likely to be the sister clade to the passerine or "perching" birds, the large clade that includes, among others, all living songbirds . Passerine birds are distinguished by an anisodactyl foot, but it is thought that their earliest ancestors may have been zygodactyl, likely using this arrangement of toes to cling to
324-534: Was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Accipiter nisus and Passer domesticus ". They appear to be the sister group of the Phaethoquornithes . Given that the most basal extant members of both Afroaves (Accipitrimorphae, Strigiformes) and Australaves (Cariamiformes, Falconiformes) are birds of prey , it has been suggested that
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