Mesite

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Mesites
Subdesert Mesite.jpg
Subdesert mesite (Monias benschi)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Columbimorphae
Order: Mesitornithiformes
Wetmore, 1960
Family: Mesitornithidae
Wetmore, 1960
Genera

Mesitornis
Monias

Madagaskar-mesites-06.jpg
Respective ranges: brown mesite in orange, white-breasted mesite in green and subdesert mesite in blue

The mesites (Mesitornithidae) are a family of birds that are part of a clade (Columbimorphae) that include Columbiformes and Pterocliformes. [1] They are smallish flightless or near flightless birds endemic to Madagascar. All the species of this clade are listed as vulnerable.

Contents

Description

The mesites are forest and scrubland birds that feed on insects and seeds; brown and white-breasted mesites forage on the ground, gleaning insects from underneath leaves as well as low vegetation. The subdesert mesite uses its long bill to probe in the soil. Other birds, such as drongos and flycatchers, will follow mesites to catch any insects they flush out or miss. Mesites are vocal birds, with calls similar to a passerine song, used for territorial defence. Two or three white eggs are laid in a stick-built nest located in a bush or on a low branch. [2] The Mesitornis species are monogamous [3] while Monias benschi is polygamous and, unlike the other two, shows significant sexual dichromatism.

Systematics

There are two genera, Mesitornis (2 species) and Monias (subdesert mesite). [4] [5]

ImageGenusSpecies
Subdesert Mesite.jpg Monias Oustalet & Grandidier, 1903
White-breasted Mesite - Ankarafantsika - Madagascar S4E9441 (15297364032).jpg Mesitornis Bonaparte, 1855 [MesitesGeoffroy, 1838 non Schoenherr, 1838; MesoenasReichenbach, 1861]

Historically, mesites' phylogenetic relationships were not very clear; they have been allied with the Gruiformes, [6] Turniciformes [7] and Columbiformes. [8]

Some phylogenomic studies support Pterocliformes (sandgrouse) as the sister group of mesites [1] [9] [10] while others place this clade with another clade constituted of Columbiformes and Cuculiformes (cuckoos). [11]

Columbiformes (pigeons)

Pterocliformes (sandgrouses)

Mesitornithiformes (mesites)

Phylogenetic relationship of the mesites within Neoaves according to Stiller and colleagues (2024). [12]

Related Research Articles

Near passerines and higher land-bird assemblage are terms of traditional, pre-cladistic taxonomy that have often been given to tree-dwelling birds or those most often believed to be related to the true passerines owing to morphological and ecological similarities; the group corresponds to some extent with the Anomalogonatae of Alfred Henry Garrod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelecaniformes</span> Order of birds

The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally—but erroneously—defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such names as totipalmates or steganopodes. Most have a bare throat patch, and the nostrils have evolved into dysfunctional slits, forcing them to breathe through their mouths. They also have a pectinate nail on their longest toe. This is shaped like a comb and is used to brush out and separate their feathers. They feed on fish, squid, or similar marine life. Nesting is colonial, but individual birds are monogamous. The young are altricial, hatching from the egg helpless and naked in most. They lack a brood patch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neoaves</span> Clade of birds

Neoaves is a clade that consists of all modern birds with the exception of Palaeognathae and Galloanserae. This group is defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the most inclusive crown clade containing Passer domesticus, but not Gallus gallus". Almost 95% of the roughly 10,000 known species of extant birds belong to the Neoaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aequornithes</span> Clade of birds

Aequornithes, or core water birds, are defined in the PhyloCode as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Pelecanus onocrotalus and Gavia immer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falconiformes</span> Order of birds

The order Falconiformes is represented by the extant family Falconidae and a handful of enigmatic Paleogene species. Traditionally, the other bird of prey families Cathartidae, Sagittariidae (secretarybird), Pandionidae (ospreys), Accipitridae (hawks) were classified in Falconiformes. A variety of comparative genome analyses published since 2008, however, found that falcons are part of a clade of birds called Australaves, which also includes seriemas, parrots and passerines. Within Australaves falcons are more closely related to the parrot-passerine clade than they are to the seriemas. The hawks, vultures and owls are placed in the clade Afroaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phasianinae</span> Subfamily of birds

The Phasianinae are a subfamily of the pheasant family (Phasianidae) of landfowl, the order Galliformes. The subfamily includes true pheasants, tragopans, grouse, turkey and similar birds. Although this subfamily was considered monophyletic and separated from the partridges, francolins, and Old World quails (Perdicinae) till the early 1990s, molecular phylogenies have shown that this placement is paraphyletic. For example, some partridges (genus Perdix) are more closely affiliated to pheasants, whereas Old World quails and partridges from the genus Alectoris are closer to junglefowls. There are two clades in the Phasianinae: the erectile clade and the non-erectile clade, referring to erectile tissue in the non-feathered parts of the face. Both clades are believed to have diverged during the early Oligocene, about 30 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suliformes</span> Order of birds

The order Suliformes is an order of birds recognised by the International Ornithologist's Union. Regarding the recent evidence that the traditional Pelecaniformes is polyphyletic, it has been suggested that the group be divided to reflect the true evolutionary relationships; a 2017 study indicated that they are most closely related to Otidiformes (bustards) and Ciconiiformes (storks).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strisores</span> Clade of birds

Strisores, sometimes called nightbirds, is a clade of birds that includes the living families and orders Caprimulgidae, Nyctibiidae (potoos), Steatornithidae (oilbirds), Podargidae (frogmouths), Apodiformes, as well as the Aegotheliformes (owlet-nightjars) whose distinctness was only recently realized. The Apodiformes and the Aegotheliformes form the Daedalornithes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telluraves</span> Clade of birds

Telluraves 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 as well as the afroavians. This grouping 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbea</span> Clade of birds

Columbea is a clade suggested by genome analysis that contains Columbiformes, Pteroclidae (sandgrouse), Mesitornithidae (mesites) and Mirandornithes. Until their recent placement as the sister taxon to Passerea, in the last decade various genetic analysis found them to be in the obsolete clade Metaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passerea</span> Clade of birds

Passerea is a clade of neoavian birds that was proposed by Jarvis et al. (2014). Their genomic analysis recovered two major clades within Neoaves, Passerea and Columbea, and concluded that both clades appear to have many ecologically driven convergent traits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurypygimorphae</span> Clade of birds

Eurypygimorphae or Phaethontimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds) and Eurypygiformes recovered by genome analysis. The relationship was first identified in 2013 based on their nuclear genes. This group was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Phaethon aethereus, Eurypyga helias, and Rhynochetos jubatus". Historically these birds were placed at different parts of the tree, with tropicbirds in Pelecaniformes and the kagu and sunbittern in Gruiformes. Some genetic analyses have placed the eurypygimorph taxa in the controversial and obsolete clade Metaves, with uncertain placement within that group. More recent molecular studies support their grouping together in Eurypygimorphae, which is usually recovered as the sister taxon to Aequornithes within Ardeae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otidimorphae</span> Clade of birds

Otidimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Cuculiformes (cuckoos), Musophagiformes (turacos), and Otidiformes (bustards) identified in 2014 by genome analysis. George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 named the clade uniting turacos and bustards as Musophagotides, defining it in the PhyloCode as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Otis tarda and Musophaga violacea, but not Grus grus or Mesitornis variegatus".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coraciimorphae</span> Clade of birds

Coraciimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the order Coliiformes (mousebirds) and the clade Cavitaves. The name however was coined in the 1990s by Sibley and Ahlquist based on their DNA-DNA hybridization studies conducted in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. However their Coraciimorphae only contains Trogoniformes and Coraciiformes. Coraciimorphae was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Colius colius and Picus viridis, but not Accipiter nisus or Passer domesticus".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eucavitaves</span> Clade of birds

Eucavitaves is a clade that contains the order Trogoniformes (trogons) and the clade Picocoraciae. The group was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Trogon viridis and Picus viridis". The name refers to the fact that the majority of them nest in cavities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavitaves</span> Clade of birds

Cavitaves is a clade that contains the order Leptosomiformes and the clade Eucavitaves. This group was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Leptosomus discolor and Picus viridis". The name refers to the fact that the majority of them nest in cavities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picocoraciae</span> Clade of birds

Picocoraciae is a clade that contains the order Bucerotiformes and the clade Picodynastornithes supported by various genetic analysis and morphological studies. While these studies supported a sister grouping of Coraciiformes and Piciformes, a large scale, sparse supermatrix has suggested alternative sister relationship between Bucerotiformes and Piciformes instead. This group was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Buceros rhinoceros, Coracias garrulus, and Picus viridis".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbimorphae</span> Clade of birds

Columbimorphae is a clade/superorder discovered by genome analysis that includes birds of the orders Columbiformes, Pterocliformes (sandgrouse), and Mesitornithiformes (mesites). This group was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Columba oenas, Mesitornis variegatus, and Pterocles alchata". Previous analyses had also recovered this grouping, although the exact relationships differed. Some studies indicated a sister relationship between sandgrouse and pigeons while other studies favored a sister grouping of mesites and sandgrouse instead. This sister relationship of the sandgrouses and mesites was named by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as the clade Pteroclimesites and defined in the PhyloCode as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Mesitornis variegatus and Pterocles alchata".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picodynastornithes</span> Clade of birds

Picodynastornithes is a clade that contains the orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes. This grouping also has current and historical support from molecular and morphological studies. This group was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Coracias garrulus, Alcedo atthis, and Picus viridis".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelecanimorphae</span> Clade of birds

Pelecanimorphae is a clade of aequornithean birds that comprises the orders Ciconiiformes, Suliformes and Pelecaniformes. In the past the name has been used as a homonym for Pelecaniformes. Pelecanimorphae is defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive clade containing Pelecanus onocrotalus, Sula leucogaster, and Ciconia ciconia". The less inclusive clade Pelecanes was named by Sangster et al, 2022 to unite Pelecaniformes and Suliformes and defined in the PhyloCode as the "least inclusive crown clade containing Pelecanus onocrotalus and Sula leucogaster".

References

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  3. Gamero, Anna; Székely, Tamás; Kappeler, Peter M. (2014). "Delayed juvenile dispersal and monogamy, but no cooperative breeding in white-breasted mesites (Mesitornis variegatus)". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 68: 73–83. doi:10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4. S2CID   17145658.
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  5. "Part 7- Vertebrates". Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
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