Australaves | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Telluraves |
Clade: | Australaves Ericson, 2012 |
Clades | |
Australaves is a clade of birds, [3] defined in 2012, [4] consisting of the Eufalconimorphae (passerines, parrots and falcons) as well as the Cariamiformes (including seriemas and the extinct "terror birds"). [5] They appear to be the sister group of Afroaves. [5] This clade was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Cariama cristata and Passer domesticus ". [6]
The clade's name, meaning 'southern birds', reflects the group's evolutionary origins in the Southern Hemisphere: passerines and parrots in Australia, and falcons and seriemas in South America. [4]
As in the case of Afroaves, the most basal clades have predatory extant members, suggesting this was the ancestral lifestyle; [7] however, some researchers like Darren Naish are skeptical of this assessment, since some extinct representatives such as the herbivorous Strigogyps led other lifestyles. [8] Basal parrots and falcons are at any rate vaguely crow-like and probably omnivorous. [9]
Australaves |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Cladogram of Telluraves relationships based on Kuhl et al. (2020) and Braun & Kimball (2021) [2] [10]