Opisthocomidae

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Opisthocomids
Temporal range: Late Eocene - Recent, 36–0  Ma [1]
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Possible an early origin based on molecular clock [2]
Hoatzins in Brazil.jpg
Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Passerea
Order: Opisthocomiformes
L'Herminier, 1837
Family: Opisthocomidae
Swainson, 1837
Genera
Synonyms
  • Foratidae Olson 1992
  • Hoazinoididae Rasmussen 1997
  • Onychopterygidae Cracraft 1971

Opisthocomidae is a family of birds, the only named family within the order Opisthocomiformes. The only living representative is the hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) which lives in the Amazon and the Orinoco delta in South America. Several fossil species have been identified, including one from Africa [3] and one from Europe. [1]

Contents

Phylogeny

The phylogeny below is based on the work of Hughes & Baker 1999 [4] and Mayr & De Pietri 2014. [1] Traditionally classified among the fowl-like birds (Galliformes), recent studies have favored Opisthocomidae's placement within the Neoaves. [4]

Namibiavis

Protoazin

Hoazinavis

Opisthocomus

Taxonomy

Description

The only living representative is the hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), which lives in the Amazon and the Orinoco delta in South America. [1] Several fossil species have been identified, including one from Africa [3] and one from Europe. [1]

The hoatzin is a stunning, colourful bird from South America. [6] The hoatzin is found in the rainforest of the Amazon. [7] It has a long, permanently erected crest which gives the species a stunning silhouette. This gregarious species is often found in groups of more than 40 birds, and up to 100 birds during breeding season which occurs during rainfalls. [6] The nest is a flat platform in bush or tree above water. The chicks are semi-precocial and leave the nest at about two to three weeks of age. [6] The adults feed them with semi-digested slimy mass from their crops, and the young are fed during the first four or five months of their life. [6] The young nestlings can jump out into the water, and swim with wings and feet, in order to escape predators at nest. [6] Hoatzin embryos are known to develop very quickly compared to other birds.

The hoatzin lives in tropical forested wetlands of 200 to 500 meters elevation. [3] The hoatzin is an arboreal species and is folivorous, feeding on leaves, flowers and fruits of a small number of plant species. [1] [7] It has a large crop that uses bacteria to break down the leaves that it eats. [7] The hoatzin is unique because it has bacteria in its crop that breaks down its food while it is still in the crop. [8] [9] [10] This is a process called foregut fermentation . [7] [11] It rarely drinks because its diet includes water. [7] The hoatzin is sedentary and widespread in suitable habitat. They are noisy birds, calling in unison, uttering large numbers of varied sounds. [6]

In addition to foregut fermentation, the hoatzin has a highly modified skeleton to accommodate its large crop, and in the young of this species, wing claws at the wrist joint which are used to climb among the branches of the nest tree. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galliformes</span> Order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds

Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often reared by humans for their meat and eggs, or hunted as game birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darter</span> Family of birds

The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, Anhinga. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and classified as near-threatened by the IUCN. The term snakebird is usually used without any additions to signify whichever of the completely allopatric species occurs in any one region. It refers to their long thin neck, which has a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged, or when mated pairs twist it during their bonding displays. "Darter" is used with a geographical term when referring to particular species. It alludes to their manner of procuring food, as they impale fishes with their thin, pointed beak. The American darter is more commonly known as the anhinga. It is sometimes called "water turkey" in the southern United States; though the anhinga is quite unrelated to the wild turkey, they are both large, blackish birds with long tails that are sometimes hunted for food.

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

The Gruiformes are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like".

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

Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae, Anseranatidae, and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes over 170 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. Most modern species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. With the exception of screamers, males have penises, a trait that has been lost in the Neoaves. Due to their aquatic nature, most species are web-footed.

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

The Coraciiformes are a group of usually colourful birds including the kingfishers, the bee-eaters, the rollers, the motmots, and the todies. They generally have syndactyly, with three forward-pointing toes, though in many kingfishers one of these is missing. The members of this order are linked by their “slamming” behaviour, thrashing their prey onto surfaces to disarm or incapacitate them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turaco</span> Family of birds

The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth (outer) toe can be switched back and forth. The second and third toes, which always point forward, are conjoined in some species. Musophagids often have prominent crests and long tails; the turacos are noted for peculiar and unique pigments giving them their bright green and red feathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seriema</span> Family of birds

The seriemas are the sole living members of the small bird family Cariamidae, which is also the only surviving lineage of the order Cariamiformes. Once believed to be related to cranes, they have been placed near the falcons, parrots and passerines, as well as the extinct Phorusrhacidae. The seriemas are large, long-legged territorial birds that range from 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length. They live in grasslands, savanna, dry woodland and open forests of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. There are two species of seriemas, the red-legged seriema and the black-legged seriema. Names for these birds in the Tupian languages are variously spelled as siriema, sariama, and çariama, and mean "crested".

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground roller</span> Family of birds

The ground rollers are a small family of non-migratory near-passerine birds restricted to Madagascar. They are related to the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. They most resemble the latter group, and are sometimes considered a sub-family of the true rollers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoatzin</span> Species of bird in South America

The hoatzin or hoactzin is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South America. It is the only extant species in the genus Opisthocomus which is the only extant genus in the Opisthocomidae family under the order of Opisthocomiformes. The taxonomic position of this family has been greatly debated by specialists, and is still far from clear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ostrich</span> Genus of flightless birds

Ostriches are large flightless birds. They are the heaviest living birds, and lay the largest eggs of any living land animal. With the ability to run at 70 km/h (43.5 mph), they are the fastest birds on land. They are farmed worldwide, with significant industries in the Philippines and in Namibia. Ostrich leather is a lucrative commodity, and the large feathers are used as plumes for the decoration of ceremonial headgear. Ostrich eggs have been used by humans for millennia.

<i>Strigogyps</i> Extinct genus of birds in the familie Ameghinornithidae

Strigogyps is an extinct genus of prehistoric bird from the Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene of France and Germany. It was probably around the size of a large chicken or a guan, weighing not quite 1 kilogram (2.2 lb). Apparently, as indicated by the ratio of lengths of wing to leg bones, S. sapea was flightless. Its legs were not adapted to running, so it seems to have had a walking lifestyle similar to trumpeters. Unlike other Cariamiformes, which appear to have been mostly carnivorous, Strigogyps specimens suggest a herbivorous diet.

<i>Palaeortyx</i> Extinct genus of birds

Palaeortyx is an extinct genus of granivorous galliform bird that lived 28.4 to 2.588 million years ago. It lived from the early Eocene to the early Pliocene, and may be a phasianid or odontophorid. It is known from several fossils found in Germany, France, Italy, Hungary and Romania.

Hoazinavis is an extinct genus of early hoatzin from Late Oligocene and Early Miocene deposits of Brazil. It was collected in 2008 from the Tremembé Formation of São Paulo, Brazil. It was first named by Gerald Mayr, Herculano Alvarenga and Cécile Mourer-Chauviré in 2011 and the type species is Hoazinavis lacustris.

Namibiavis is an extinct genus of early hoatzin from early Middle Miocene deposits of Namibia. It was collected from Arrisdrift, southern Namibia. It was first named by Cécile Mourer-Chauviré in 2003 and the type species is Namibiavis senutae.

Herculano Marcos Ferraz de Alvarenga is a Brazilian ornithologist, paleontologist and physician, founder of the Taubaté Natural History Museum.

Elaphrocnemus is a genus of extinct bird from the Eocene and Oligocene periods of Europe. Part of Cariamiformes, its closest living relatives are seriemas, though it differs significantly from them, being a better flyer.

<i>Eocoracias</i> Extinct genus of birds

Eocoracias is an extinct genus of bird related to modern rollers and other Coraciiformes such as kingfishers, bee-eaters, motmots, and todies. It contains one species, Eocoracias brachyptera, and it lived approximately 47 million years ago based on dating of the fossil site. It is known for a specimen having preserved non-iridescent structural coloration on its feathers, previously unknown in fossil birds. Fossils have been found at the Messel Pit in Germany.

Protoazin is an extinct genus of early hoatzin from late Eocene deposits of France.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gerald Mayr and Vanesa L. De Pietri (2014). "Earliest and first Northern Hemispheric hoatzin fossils substantiate Old World origin of a "Neotropic endemic"". Naturwissenschaften. 101 (2): 143–148. doi:10.1007/s00114-014-1144-8. PMID   24441712. S2CID   253639154.
  2. Kuhl., H.; Frankl-Vilches, C.; Bakker, A.; Mayr, G.; Nikolaus, G.; Boerno, S. T.; Klages, S.; Timmermann, B.; Gahr, M. (2020). "An unbiased molecular approach using 3'UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 38: 108–127. doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaa191 . PMC   7783168 . PMID   32781465.
  3. 1 2 3 Mayr G., Alvarenga H., Mourer-Chauviré C. (2011). "Out of Africa: Fossils shed light on the origin of the hoatzin, an iconic Neotropic bird". Naturwissenschaften. 98 (11): 961–6. doi:10.1007/s00114-011-0849-1. PMID   21964974. S2CID   24210185.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 3 Baker, A. J.; Hughes, J. M. (1999-09-01). "Phylogenetic relationships of the enigmatic hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) resolved using mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 16 (9): 1300–1307. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026220 . ISSN   0737-4038. PMID   10486983.
  5. Mikko's Phylogeny Archive Haaramo, Mikko (2007). "Primitive Land-bird Assemblage" . Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "DESCRIPTION FAMILY OPISTHOCOMIDAE".
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Opisthocomidae - hoatzin | Wildlife Journal Junior". nhpbs.org. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  8. Domínguez-Bello, Maria G.; Gordon, Jeffrey I.; Blaser, Martin J.; Michelangeli, Fabian; Garcia-Amado, Maria A.; Pericchi, Luis R.; Ortiz-Zuazaga, Humberto; Pei, Zhiheng; Gao, Zhan (2008-10-01). "Bacterial Community in the Crop of the Hoatzin, a Neotropical Folivorous Flying Bird". Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74 (19): 5905–5912. doi:10.1128/AEM.00574-08. ISSN   0099-2240. PMC   2565963 . PMID   18689523.
  9. Ruiz, M. -C.; Domínguez-Bello, M. G.; Michelangeli, F. (1994-05-01). "Gastric lysozyme as a digestive enzyme in the hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), a ruminant-like folivorous bird". Experientia. 50 (5): 499–501. doi:10.1007/BF01920757. ISSN   1420-9071. S2CID   24874172.
  10. Wilson, A. C.; Schilling, J. W.; Kornegay, J. R. (1994-11-01). "Molecular adaptation of a leaf-eating bird: stomach lysozyme of the hoatzin". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 11 (6): 921–928. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040173 . ISSN   0737-4038. PMID   7815930.
  11. M. G. Dominguez-Bello; M. C. Ruiz; F. Michelangeli (1993). "Evolutionary significance of foregut fermentation in the hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin; Aves: Opisthocomidae)". Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 163 (7): 594–601. doi:10.1007/BF00302119. S2CID   21933528.