Belongs within: Neognathae.
Contains: Anseres, Galliformes.
The Galloanserae are a clade of birds uniting the waterfowl (Anseriformes) and gamefowl (Galliformes). The clade is supported by molecular data as well as by morphological characters including presence of a sessile basipterygoid processes, long, blade-like retroarticular processes on the mandible, and a derived morphology of the quadrate (Mayr 2009).
As well as the ducks and geese, the Anseriformes include the screamers (Anhimidae) of South America. Screamers have a short curved bill, soft downy feathers on the relatively small head and short neck, and two large, sharp spurs on the forward edge of each wing. Their toes mostly lack webbing.
Vegavis iaai is a fossil species from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica that has been associated with Anseriformes. Though placed within the crown-group in its original description (Clarke et al. 2005), it was later reassigned to the order’s stem by Worthy et al. (2017). Aminornis excavatus, known from a partial coracoid from the Late Oligocene of Patagonia, has also been assigned to Anseriformes (Mayr 2009).
The Gastornithiformes are an extinct group of gigantic flightless birds that have been identified as Anseriformes but were placed as stem-Galliformes by Worthy et al. (2017). The Gastornithidae are known from the Palaeogene Holarctic whereas the Australian Dromornithidae survived closer to the modern era. The Gastornithidae possessed a huge, laterally compressed beak and have been subject to extended debate on their diet (Mayr 2009).
<==Galloanseres [Anserimorphae, Galloanserae, Galloanserimorphae]WD17
|--+--Vegavis Clarke, Tambussi et al. 2005WD17, CT05 [Vegaviidae, Vegaviiformes]
| | `--*V. iaai Clarke, Tambussi et al. 2005CT05
| `--Anseriformes [Anatiformes]WD17
| | i. s.: Aminornis excavatus Ameghino 1899M09
| |--AnseresCT05
| `--Anhimidae [Anhimae, Palamedaeidae, Palamedeidae]CT05
| |--Chaunoides antiquus Alvarenga 1999M09
| |--Loxornis Ameghino 1894M09, A94
| | `--*L. clivus Ameghino 1895A94, M09
| |--Anhima Brisson 1760 [incl. Palamedaea Möhring 1752 (pre-Linnean), Palamedea Linnaeus 1766]B94
| | |--A. cornutaC04 [=Palamedea cornutaSS66]
| | `--‘Palamedea’ cristata [incl. Psophia cariama]G97
| `--ChaunaCT05
| |--C. chavariaS66
| |--C. derbiana Gray 1845M66 [incl. C. nigricollis Sclater 1864S66, M66]
| `--C. torquata (Oken 1816)ME04
`--Pangalliformes [Cracoidea, Galli]C04
|--GastornithiformesWD17
| |--Gastornithidae [Diatrymae, Diatrymidae, Diatrymiformes, Gastornithes, Gastornithiformes]M09
| | |--Zhongyuanus xichuanensis Hou 1980M09
| | `--Gastornis Hébert 1855M09 (see below for synonymy)
| | |--*G. parisiensis Hébert 1855M02 [incl. G. edwardsi Lemoine 1878M09, G. klaasseni Newton 1886M09]
| | |--G. ajax (Shufeldt 1913) [=Diatryma ajax]M02
| | |--G. geiselensis (Fischer 1978) [=Diatryma geiselensis]M09
| | |--G. giganteus (Cope 1876)WD17 [=*Diatryma giganteaM02]
| | |--G. minor Lemoine 1878M09 [=Remiornis minorM02; incl. G. russeli Martin 1992M09]
| | |--G. regens (Marsh 1894)M09 [=*Barornis regensM02, Diatryma regensM09]
| | |--G. sarasini (Schaub 1929) [=Diatryma sarasini]M02
| | |--‘Diatryma’ steini (Matthew & Granger 1917)M07
| | `--‘*Omorhamphus’ storchii Sinclair 1928M02
| `--Dromornithidae [Dromornithes, Dromornithiformes]M11
| | i. s.: Bullockornis planei Rich 1979U93
| |--+--Barawertornis tedfordi Rich 1979WD17, M09
| | `--‘Ilbandornis’ lawsoni Rich 1979WD17
| `--+--Ilbandornis woodburnei Rich 1979WD17
| `--+--‘Dromornis’ murrayi Worthy et al. 2016WD17
| `--+--DromornisWD17
| | |--D. australisFP64
| | |--D. planei Rich 1979WD17
| | `--D. stirtoni Rick 1979WD17
| `--Genyornis Stirling & Zietz 1896WD17, D07
| |--G. australisD07
| |--G. newtoni Stirling & Zeitz 1896WD17
| `--G. stirtoniD07
`--GalliformesCT05
Gastornis Hébert 1855M09 [incl. Barornis Marsh 1894M02, Diatryma Cope 1876M09, M05, Omorhamphus Sinclair 1928M02]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A94] Ameghino, F. 1894. Sur les oiseaux fossiles de Patagonie et la aune mammalogique des couches a Pyrotherium. Boletín del Instituto Geográfico Argentino 15 (11-12): 501–602.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[C04] Clarke, J. A. 2004. Morphology, phylogenetic taxonomy, and systematics of Ichthyornis and Apatornis (Avialae: Ornithurae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 286: 1–179.
[CT05] Clarke, J. A., C. P. Tambussi, J. I. Noriega, G. M. Erickson & R. A. Ketcham. 2005. Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous. Nature 433: 305–308.
[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.
[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.
[G97] Geoffroy, É. L. 1797. Note sur les genres Psophia et Palamedea de Linné. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Societé Philomathique de Paris 1 (7): 50–51.
[M05] Mayr, G. 2005. The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe. Biological Reviews 80: 515–542.
[M07] Mayr, G. 2007. The birds from the Paleocene fissure filling of Walbeck (Germany). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 (2): 394–408.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[M11] Mayr, G. 2011. Cenozoic mystery birds—on the phylogenetic affinities of the bony-toothed birds (Pelagornithidae). Zoologica Scripta 40: 448–467.
[ME04] Mayr, G., & P. G. P. Ericson. 2004. Evidence for a sister group relationship between the Madagascan mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the cuckoos (Cuculidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 84 (1–2): 1–17.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[M66] Moore, T. J. 1866. On the habitat of the Derbyan crested screamer (Chauna derbiana, G. R. Gray). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 368–369.
[S66] Sclater, P. L. 1866. Note on Chauna nigricollis. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 369–370.
[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175–201.
[U93] Unwin, D. M. 1993. Aves. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 717–737. Chapman & Hall: London.
[WD17] Worthy, T. H., F. J. Degrange, W. D. Handley & M. S. Y. Lee. 2017. The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres). Royal Society Open Science 4: 170975.