Near passerine

Near passerine or higher land-bird assemblage are terms often given to arboreal birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines (order Passeriformes) due to ecological similarities; the group corresponds to some extent with the Anomalogonatae of Garrod^[1] All near passerines are land birds. Whether all of these orders represent relatives of the Passeriformes is uncertain, but not well-supported by more recent data; however the bulk of evidence^{[citation needed]} supports the hypothesis that most do indeed form a clade that also includes the Passeriformes. In addition, it is now becoming increasingly clear that "near passerines" and "higher landbirds" are not synonymous, but that the former is more probably a subclade of the latter, and that the latter also includes groups like Falconiformes^{[citation needed]}

The near passerines traditionally comprise the following orders^{[citation needed]} (with common names of some families in the orders):

• Pterocliformes: sandgrouse
• Columbiformes: pigeons
• Psittaciformes: parrots
• Cuculiformes: cuckoos
• Strigiformes: owls
• Caprimulgiformes: nightjars
• Apodiformes: swifts, hummingbirds
• Coliiformes: mousebirds
• Trogoniformes: trogons, quetzals
• Coraciiformes: kingfishers, hornbills
• Piciformes: woodpeckers, toucans

Of these, the relationship of the Strigiformes is uncertain^{[citation needed]}, whereas the first three groups almost certainly do not belong here^{[citation needed]}; sandgrouse (Pterocliformes) may not even be higher landbirds^{[citation needed]}. The Cuculiformes, Piciformes, Coraciiformes (including hornbills) and Trogoniformes seem to be very close to the Passeriformes on the other hand (Johansson & Ericson 2003), and one of these almost certainly is—among the living birds—the sister taxon of the Passeriformes.

See also

• List of birds

References

1. ^ defined as birds lacking the ambiens muscle, namelt the coraciforms and passerines. The birds of North and middle America, Robert Ridgway, Herbert Friedmann, p 297. http://books.google.com/books?id=tIkaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA297&dq=anomalogonate&hl=en&ei=Sp1bTrj4FIbagAfAhsCVDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=anomalogonate&f=false

• Johansson, Ulf S. & Ericson, Per G. P. (2003): Molecular support for a sister group relationship between Pici and Galbulae (Piciformes sensu Wetmore 1960). J. Avian Biol. 34(2): 185–197. doi:10.1034/j.1600-048X.2003.03103.x PDF fulltext