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.
23-471: Charadrius leucurus Lichtenstein, 1823 Chettusia leucura (Lichtenstein, 1823) Vanellochettusia leucura (Lichtenstein, 1823) The white-tailed lapwing or white-tailed plover ( Vanellus leucurus ) is a wader in the lapwing genus. The genus name Vanellus is Medieval Latin for a lapwing and derives from vannus a winnowing fan . The specific leucurus is from Ancient Greek leukouros , "white-tailed". This medium-sized lapwing
46-465: A paraphyletic assemblage. However, it indicated that the plains wanderer actually belonged into one of them. Following recent studies (Ericson et al., 2003; Paton et al., 2003; Thomas et al., 2004a, b; van Tuinen et al., 2004; Paton & Baker, 2006), the waders may be more accurately subdivided as follows, with Charadrii being repurposed into a monophyletic suborder of plovers, oystercatchers, and their close relatives. The waders are traditionally
69-562: A greatly enlarged order Ciconiiformes . However, the classification of the Charadriiformes is one of the weakest points of the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, as DNA–DNA hybridization has turned out to be incapable of properly resolving the interrelationships of the group. Formerly, the waders were united in a single suborder Charadrii , but this has turned out to be a " wastebasket taxon ", uniting no fewer than four charadriiform lineages in
92-530: A group of two Charadriiform suborders which include 13 families . Species in the third Charadriiform suborder, Lari , are not universally considered as waders, though the Larine families which may variously be included are listed below as well. Shorebirds is a blanket term used to refer to multiple bird species that live in wet, coastal environments. Because most these species spend much of their time near bodies of water, many have long legs suitable for wading (hence
115-403: A result, an increase in dimorphism. Bigger males tend to have greater access (and appeal) to female mates because their larger size aids them in defeating other competitors. Likewise, if the species exhibits gender role reversal (where males take on roles traditionally done by females such as childcare and feeding), then males will select female mates based on traits that are the most appealing. In
138-590: A scaly back, and may show some brown in the tail. The breeding season call is a peewit , similar to northern lapwing . It breeds semi-colonially on inland marshes in Iraq , Kuwait , Iran and southern Russia . Four eggs are laid in a ground nest. The Iraqi and Iranian breeders are mainly residents, but Russian birds migrate south in winter to the Indian Subcontinent , the Middle East and north east Africa . It
161-443: A single female partner, males typically do not have distinctive dimorphic characteristics such as colored feathers, but they still tend to be larger in size compared to females. The suborder Charadrii displays the widest range of sexual dimorphisms seen in the order Charadriiformes. However, cases of sexual monomorphism, where there are no distinguishing physical features besides external genitalia, are also seen in this order. One of
184-431: A superorder by themselves, with all other non-ratite birds in a different superorder. Sibley and Ahlquist, though, put penguins in the same superfamily as divers (loons), tubenoses, and frigatebirds . According to their phylogenetic analysis, penguins are closer to those birds than herons are to storks . The Galloanserae (waterfowl and landfowl) has found widespread acceptance. The DNA evidence of Sibley–Ahlquist for
207-631: Is a very rare vagrant in western Europe , the first example in Britain being found at Packington , Warwickshire on 12 July 1975. In some parts of its distribution range the species faces threats related to habitat destruction and unintentional poaching . The white-tailed lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA ) applies. Wader Waders or shorebirds are birds of
230-406: Is long-legged and fairly long-billed. It is the only lapwing likely to be seen in other than very shallow water, where it picks insects and other small prey mainly from the surface. Adults are slim erect birds with a brown back and foreneck, paler face and grey breast. Its long yellow legs, pure white tail and distinctive brown, white and black wings make this species unmistakable. Young birds have
253-571: Is the least sandpiper , small adults of which can weigh as little as 15.5 grams (0.55 oz) and measure just over 13 centimetres (5 inches). The largest species is believed to be the Far Eastern curlew , at about 63 cm (25 in) and 860 grams (1 pound 14 ounces), although the beach thick-knee is the heaviest at about 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz). In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy , waders and many other groups are subsumed into
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#1733115674216276-462: The Jacana species, females compete with each other for access to male mates, so females are larger in size. Males choose female mates based on who presents herself as the strongest and who 'owns' the most territory. Another factor that leads to the development of dimorphisms in species is natural selection . Natural selection focuses on traits and the environment's response to the traits in question; if
299-410: The "trunk" of the family tree is the class Aves , which branches into subclasses, which branch into infraclasses, and then "parvclasses", superorders, orders, suborders, infraorders, "parvorders", superfamilies, families, subfamilies, tribes, subtribes and finally genera and species. However the classification study did not employ modern cladistic methods, as it relies strictly on DNA-DNA hybridization as
322-481: The Arctic species, such as the little stint , are amongst the longest distance migrants, spending the non- breeding season in the southern hemisphere . Many of the smaller species found in coastal habitats, particularly but not exclusively the calidrids , are often named as "sandpipers", but this term does not have a strict meaning, since the upland sandpiper is a grassland species. The smallest member of this group
345-489: The biggest factors that leads to the development of sexual dimorphism in shorebirds is sexual selection . Males with ideal characteristics favored by females are more likely to reproduce and pass on their genetic information to their offspring better than the males who lack such characteristics. Mentioned earlier, male shorebirds are typically larger in size compared to their female counterparts. Competition between males tends to lead to sexual selection toward larger males and as
368-477: The name 'Waders'). Some species prefer locations with rocks or mud. Many shorebirds display migratory patterns and often migrate before breeding season. These behaviors explain the long wing lengths observed in species, and can also account for the efficient metabolisms that give the birds energy during long migrations . The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of mud or exposed soil. Different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in
391-781: The order Charadriiformes commonly found wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to forage for food crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand, usually small arthropods such as aquatic insects or crustaceans . The term "wader" is used in Europe, while "shorebird" is used in North America, where "wader" may be used instead to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons . There are about 210 species of wader, most of which live in wetland or coastal environments. Many species of Arctic and temperate regions are strongly migratory , but tropical birds are often resident, or move only in response to rainfall patterns. Some of
414-505: The percent similarity of DNA between two species is estimated by the reduction in hydrogen bonding between nucleotides of imperfectly complemented heteroduplex DNA (i.e., double stranded DNAs that are experimentally produced from single strands of two different species), compared with perfectly matched homoduplex DNA (both strands of DNA from the same species). The classification appears to be an early example of cladistic classification because it codifies many intermediate levels of taxa:
437-435: The said trait increases the overall fitness of the individual possessing it, then it will be 'selected' and eventually become a permanent part of the population's gene pool. For example, depending on the food available in a shorebird specie's respective niche , bigger bill sizes may be favored in all individuals. This would essentially lead to monomorphism within the species but is subject to change once sexual selection acts on
460-818: The same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. Many waders have sensitive nerve endings at the end of their bills which enable them to detect prey items hidden in mud or soft soil. Some larger species, particularly those adapted to drier habitats will take larger prey including insects and small reptiles . Shorebirds, like many other animals, exhibit phenotypic differences between males and females, also known as sexual dimorphism . In shorebirds, various sexual dimorphisms are seen, including, but not limited to, size (e.g. body size, bill size), color, and agility. In polygynous species, where one male individual mates with multiple female partners over his lifetime, dimorphisms tend to be more diverse. In monogamous species, where male individuals mate with
483-452: The same order that includes nothing else, Sibley and Ahlquist put them in the same superorder that includes nothing else, consisting of one order for the hummingbirds and another for the swifts and treeswifts. In other words, they still regard the swifts as the hummingbirds' closest relatives. Other changes are much more drastic. The penguins were traditionally regarded as distant from all other living birds. For instance, Wetmore put them in
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#1733115674216506-538: The sole measure of similarity. The Sibley–Ahlquist arrangement differs greatly from the more traditional approach used in the Clements taxonomy . Other birds Anseriformes Galliformes Craciformes Showing major changes from Clements, the Sibley–Ahlquist orders are as follows: Some of these changes are minor adjustments. For instance, instead of putting the swifts, treeswifts, and hummingbirds in
529-583: The trait. Sexual selection could give rise to males with relatively larger bills than females if males used their bills to compete with other males. If larger bill size assisted the male in gathering resources, it would also make him more attractive to female mates. Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy DNA–DNA hybridization is among a class of comparative techniques in molecular biology that produce distance data (versus character data) and that can be analyzed to produce phylogenetic reconstructions only using phenetic tree-building algorithms. In DNA–DNA hybridization,
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