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Belongs within: Ornithurae.
Contains: Pelagornithidae, Galloanseres, Mirandornithes, Gruiformes, Charadriiformes, Columbaves, Caprimulgiformes, Telluraves, Aequornithia, Phaethontiformes.
The Neognathae are one of the primary clades of living birds, excluding only the ratites and tinamous. Members of the clade are characterised by an intrapterygoidal joint allowing greater mobility of the palate, as well as by a conjoint auditory tube and caudally closed ilioischiadic foramina in the pelvis (Mayr 2009). Within the Neognathae, most recent studies agree on a basal division between the galloanserines (gamefowl and waterfowl) and remaining species in the clade Neoaves.
Basal relationships within the Neoaves remain highly contentious, with many large-scale analyses differing significantly in their results. Some authors have even suggested that the base of Neoaves may be an insoluble hard polytomy. Particularly contentious has been the position of the hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin, a medium-sized folivorous bird found in the Amazon basin. Historical suggestions of a relationship with either Galliformes (gamebirds) or Cuculidae (cuckoos) seem unlikely based on recent analyses. Hoatzins are broad-winged birds with a spiky, rufous crest and bare blue skin around the eyes.
The Neotropical sunbittern Eurypyga helias and the New Caledonian kagu Rhynochetos jubatus together form another isolated clade that may be related to the tropicbirds of the Phaethontidae. Both these species perform characteristic displays with the wings extended outwards.
The Palaelodidae are an extinct group of flamingo-like birds known from the Oligocene to the Pleistocene that may be related to modern flamingos or to the broader flamingo-grebe clade Mirandornithes.
<==Neognathae [Amblypterae, Ciconii, Gallinacii, Insessores, Odontoanserae, Palmipedes, Pullastrae]
|--+--PelagornithidaeM11
| `--GalloanseresPB15
`--Neoaves (see below for synonymy)PB15
| i. s.: Protopelicanus Reichenbach 1852M09, M02
| `--*P. cuvieri Reichenbach 1852M02
| Onychopteryx [Onychopterygidae]M09
| `--O. simpsoni Cracraft 1971M09
| Hesperocichla naeviaS05
|--+--Juncitarsus Olson & Feduccia 1980M09, M02 [Juncitarsinae]
| | |--*J. gracillimus Olson & Feduccia 1980M02
| | `--J. merkeli Peters 1987M09
| |--MirandornithesKF-V21
| `--Palaelodidae [Palaeolontidae]M09
| |--Adelalopus hoogbutseliensis Mayr & Smith 2002M09
| |--Megapaloelodus Miller 1944M02
| | |--*M. connectens Miller 1944M02
| | |--M. goliath (Milne-Edwards 1868)BV-R98, M02 [=Palaelodus goliathM02, Paloelodus (l. c.) goliathM02]
| | `--M. opsigonus Brodkorb 1961U93
| `--Palaelodus Milne-Edwards 1863BV-R98 [=Paloelodus (l. c.)M02; incl. Probalearica Lambrecht 1933M02]
| |--*P. ambiguus Milne-Edwards 1869BV-R98 (see below for synonymy)
| |--P. crassipes Milne-Edwards 1863M09
| |--P. gracilipes Milne-Edwards 1863M09 [incl. Paloelodus (l. c.) minutus Milne-Edwards 1868BV-R98, M02]
| |--P. pledgei Baird & Vickers-Rich 1998BV-R98
| `--P. wilsoni Baird & Vickers-Rich 1998BV-R98
`--+--+--+--GruiformesKF-V21
| | `--CharadriiformesKF-V21
| `--+--ColumbavesKF-V21
| `--+--CaprimulgiformesKF-V21
| `--Opisthocomidae [Opisthocomi, Opisthocomiformes]KF-V21
| |--Hoazinoides magdalenae Miller 1953U93
| |--Hoazinavis lacustrisJM14
| `--Opisthocomus Illiger 1811B94
| `--O. hoazin (Müller 1776)ME04
`--+--TelluravesKF-V21
`--+--AequornithiaKF-V21
`--PhaethontimorphaePB15
|--PhaethontiformesKF-V21
`--Eurypygiformes [Eurypygae]JM14
|--Rhynochetos Verreaux & des Murs 1860 (see below for synonymy)L98
| |--R. jubatusM09
| `--R. orarius Balouet & Olson 1989U93
`--Eurypyga Illiger 1811PB15, L98 [Eurypygidae, Eurypygides]
`--E. heliasPB15
|--E. h. heliasRN72
|--E. h. majorRN72
`--E. h. meridionalisRN72
Inorganic: Opisthocomidus opisthocomidus minilorientalus Okamura 1987O87
Neoaves [Aequorlitornithes, Anomalogonates, Charadriimorphae, Ciconiae, Ciconiiformes, Ciconiimorphae, Ciconioidea, Coccyges, Columbea, Coronaves, Cuculimorphae, Cursorimorphae, Dendrornithes, Eurypygoidea, Gaviae, Gavii, Gaviomorphae, Grallae, Impennes, Incessores, Inopinaves, Longipennes, Metaves, Oxypterae, Paludicolae, Passerea, Passeres, Pelecani, Picae, Pinnatipedes, Plethornithes, Psittacimorphae, Pygopodes, Pygopodotubinares, Ralliformes, Simplicirostres, Terrestrornithes, Turniciformes]PB15
*Palaelodus ambiguus Milne-Edwards 1869BV-R98 [incl. Grus miocenicus Grigorescu & Kessler 1977M02, G. problematica Milne-Edwards 1871M02, *Probalearica problematicaM02]
Rhynochetos Verreaux & des Murs 1860 [Rhynocheti, Rhynochetidae, Rhynochetides, Rhynochetoidea]L98
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BV-R98] Baird, R. F., & P. Vickers-Rich. 1998. Palaelodus (Aves: Palaelodidae) from the Middle to Late Cainozoic of Australia. Alcheringa 22 (2): 135–151.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[JM14] Jarvis, E. D., S. Mirarab, A. J. Aberer, B. Li, P. Houde, C. Li, S. Y. W. Ho, B. C. Faircloth, B. Nabholz, J. T. Howard, A. Suh, C. C. Weber, R. R. de Fonseca, J. Li, F. Zhang, H. Li, L. Zhou, N. Narula, L. Liu, G. Ganapathy, B. Boussau, M. S. Bayzid, V. Zavidovych, S. Subramanian, T. Gabaldón, S. Capella-Gutiérrez, J. Huerta-Cepas, B. Rekepalli, K. Munch, M. Schierup, B. Lindow, W. C. Warren, D. Ray, R. E. Green, M. W. Bruford, X. Zhan, A. Dixon, S. Li, N. Li, Y. Huang, E. P. Derryberry, M. F. Bertelsen, F. H. Sheldon, R. T. Brumfield, C. V. Mello, P. V. Lovell, M. Wirthlin, M. P. Cruz Schneider, F. Prosdocimi, J. A. Samaniego, A. M. Vargas Velazquez, A. Alfaro-Núñez, P. F. Campos, B. Petersen, T. Sitcheritz-Ponten, A. Pas, T. Bailey, P. Scofield, M. Bunce, D. M. Lambert, Q. Zhou, P. Perelman, A. C. Driskell, B. Shapiro, Z. Xiong, Y. Zeng, S. Liu, Z. Li, B. Liu, K. Wu, J. Xiao, X. Yinqi, Q. Zheng, Y. Zhang, H. Yang, J. Wang, L. Smeds, F. E. Rheindt, M. Braun, J. Fjeldså, L. Orlando, F. K. Barker, K. A. Jønsson, W. Johnson, K.-P. Koepfli, S. O’Brien, D. Haussler, O. A. Ryder, C. Rahbek, E. Willerslev, G. R. Graves, T. C. Glenn, J. McCormack, D. Burt, H. Ellegren, P. Alström, S. V. Edwards, A. Stamatakis, D. P. Mindell, J. Cracraft, E. L. Braun, T. Warnow, W. Jun, M. T. P. Gilbert & G. Zhang. 2014. Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds. Science 346 (6215): 1320–1331.
[KF-V21] Kuhl, H., C. Frankl-Vilches, A. Bakker, G. Mayr, G. Nikolaus, S. T. Boerno, S. Klages, B. Timmermann & M. Gahr. 2021. An unbiased molecular approach using 3′-UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life. Molecular Biology and Evolution 38 (1): 108–127.
[L98] Livezey, B. C. 1998. A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B—Biological Sciences 353: 2077–2151.
[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.
[O87] Okamura, C. 1987. New facts: Homo and all Vertebrata were born simultaneously in the former Paleozoic in Japan. Original Report of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory 15: 347–573.
[PB15] Prum, R. O., J. S. Berv, A. Dornburg, D. J. Field, J. P. Townsend, E. M. Lemmon & A. R. Lemmon. 2015. A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature 526: 569–573.
[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. London, Blandford Press.
[S05] Schalow, H. 1905. Die Vögel der Arktis. In: Römer, F., & F. Schaudinn (eds) Fauna Arctica. Eine Zusammenstellun der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pp. 79–288. Gustav Fischer: Jena.
[U93] Unwin, D. M. 1993. Aves. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 717–737. Chapman & Hall: London.