Belongs within: Charadriiformes.
The Jacanidae, jaçanas, are extremely long-toed birds found around vegetation-filled water bodies in tropical and subtropical parts. Their long toes allow them to walk on the surface of floating vegetation such as waterlilies and lotuses. Jaçanas also possess a frontal shield above the beak, and sharp horny spurs on the bend of their wings (Austin 1961). They are often strikingly coloured.
Species of the type genus Jacana, found in the Americas, are black with chestnut-brown wings and back; the wattled jaçana Jacana jacana has red wattles behind the bill in addition to the red frontal shield. The pheasant-tailed jaçana Hydrophasianus chirurgus of tropical Asia is a brown and white species with a golden nape and elongated central tail feathers.
<==Jacanidae [Jacanoidea, Parridae]
| i. s.: Nupharanassa Rasmussen, Olson & Simons 1987M02
| |--*N. bulotorum Rasmussen et al. 1987M02
| `--N. tolutaria Rasmussen et al. 1987M09
| Janipes nymphaeobates Rasmussen et al. 1987M09
|--+--+--Metopidius indicusJT12
| | `--ActophilornisJT12
| | |--A. africanusJT12
| | `--A. albinuchaJT12
| `--+--Microparra capensisJT12
| `--Irediparra gallinacea (Temminck 1828)JT12, WS48 (see below for synonymy)
| |--I. g. gallinaceaWS48
| `--I. g. novaehollandiae (Salvadori 1882) (see below for synonymy)WS48
`--+--HydrophasianusJT12
| |--H. chirurgusJT12
| `--H. sinensisS42
`--Jacana Brisson 1760JT12, B94 [incl. Parra Linné 1766B94]
|--‘Parra’ africanaS66
|--‘Parra’ albinuchaS66
|--‘Palamedea’ chavaria [=Parra chavaria]G97
|--J. gallinaceaSJ85
|--J. jacana (Linné 1766)ME04 [=Parra jacanaSS66]
| |--J. j. jacanaE52
| `--J. j. hypomelaenaE52
|--J. melanopygiaS18
|--J. nigraS18
|--‘Parra’ sinensisV41
`--J. spinosa (Linnaeus 1758)PB96
Irediparra gallinacea (Temminck 1828)JT12, WS48 [=Parra gallinaceaWS48, Hydralector gallinaceusPB96, Metopidius gallinaceaM03]
Irediparra gallinacea novaehollandiae (Salvadori 1882) [=Hydralector novaehollandiae; incl. I. gallinacea rothschildi Mathews 1912]WS48
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[E52] Eisenmann, E. 1952. Annotated list of birds of Barro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 117 (5): 1–62.
[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.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[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.
[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds, 2nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.
[PB96] Palma, R. L., & S. C. Barker. 1996. Phthiraptera. In: Wells, A. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera pp. 81–247. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.
[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[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.
[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.
[SJ85] Storr, G. M., & R. E. Johnstone. 1985. Field Guide to the Birds of Western Australia 2nd ed. Western Australian Museum: Perth (Australia).
[S42] Strickland, H. E. 1842. Account of the birds in the Chinese collection exhibited at Hyde Park Corner. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 10: 166–168.
[V41] Vigne, G. T. 1841. Relating to a collection of birds formed in Thibet and Cashmere. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 9: 6–7.
[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.