An international team of researchers has revolutionized the system of bird classification, presenting a new evolutionary tree that reshapes our understanding of avian evolution. Despite extensive efforts over past decades, the relationships among major avian lineages have remained controversial.
The team, led by Chinese zoologists from Zhejiang University, analyzed the genomes of 363 bird species, representing 92 percent of all existing bird families. Their findings, published in the journal Nature on Tuesday, offer a well-supported family tree that redefines the evolutionary history of birds.
According to the study, the Neoaves—a group that includes the vast majority of bird species—are now classified into four major groups:
- Mirandornithes: Includes species such as flamingos.
- Columbaves: Comprises birds like pigeons.
- Telluraves: Encompasses species including parrots and eagles.
- Elementaves: A newly proposed group that includes about 14 percent of all modern bird species, such as seagulls, albatrosses, penguins, hoatzins, and swifts.
The researchers also confirmed that a mass extinction event approximately 66 million years ago, which wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs, provided an opportunity for birds to rapidly diversify and occupy a wide range of ecological niches.
“Our work has changed many traditional views on the evolutionary history of birds,” said Zhang Guojie from Zhejiang University. “This new family tree will serve as a solid backbone for mapping the evolutionary history of all bird species with important implications for ornithological research and biodiversity studies,” added Zhang, the paper’s corresponding author.
The study is part of an international collaboration called the Bird 10,000 Genomes Project, aiming to map the genomes of approximately 10,500 existing bird species. This comprehensive genomic resource is expected to have significant impacts on fields such as ecology, evolution, and conservation biology.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
