Belongs within: Telluraves.
Contains: Tyranni, Menurae, Euoscines, Acanthisittidae.
The Passeriformes are the passerine or perching birds, a clade including over half the living bird species. Passerines are primarily distinguished by their foot morphology, with an enlarged non-reversible hallux that is level with the other toes. Most have deep plantar tendons that serve to automatically close the foot in a resting position.
Despite their dominance in the modern fauna, Passeriformes have only a weak fossil record. Weislochia weissi is a basal passerine known from the early Oligocene of Europe. The Zygodactylidae are small Eocene to Miocene birds with long, slender legs and zygodactylous feet that have also been identified as stem-group Passeriformes (Mayr 2009).
Synapomorphies (Raikow 1982): Aegithognathous palate; tensor propatagialis brevis tendon extending through patagium to insertion on surface of extensor metacarpi radialis, then turning proximad and extending to insertion on humerus; spermatozoa bundled with coiled head and large acrosome; enlarged hallux; type VII deep plantar tendons (absent in Eurylaimidae); M. pubo-ischio femoralis with two sectors positioned cranially (pars cranialis) and caudally (pars caudalis) of each other; intrinsic foot muscles of digits II-IV absent (except occasional presence of reduced extensor brevis digiti IV).
<==Passeriformes [Ampelidae, Ampelididae, Clamatores, Eurylaimi, Oligomyodi, Pan-Passeriformes]
|--Zygodactylidae [Miopiconidae, Primoscenidae, Primoscinidae]M04
| |--Miopico Mayr 1998M02
| | `--M. benimellalensis Mayr 1998M02
| |--Primoscens Harrison & Walker 1977M09, M02
| | `--*P. minutus Harrison & Walker 1977M02
| |--Zygodactylus Ballmann 1969KSW17, M02
| | |--*Z. ignotus Ballmann 1969M02
| | |--Z. grivensis Ballmann 1969M02
| | `--Z. luberonensis Mayr 2008M09
| |--Primozygodactylus Mayr 1998M04, M02
| | |--*P. danielsi Mayr 1998M02
| | |--P. ballmanni Mayr 1998M02
| | `--P. major Mayr 1998M02
| `--Eozygodactylus americanusOF19
`--+--Wieslochia Mayr & Manegold 2006M09, MM06
| `--*W. weissi Mayr & Manegold 2006MM06
|--EupasseresEC02
| |--TyranniEC02
| `--Passeri [Menuroidea, Oscines]OF19
| |--MenuraeEC02
| `--EuoscinesEC02
`--AcanthisittidaeEC02
Passeriformes incertae sedis:
Passerherbulus henslowiiW69
Pedinorhis stirpsarcanaSWK87
Ixocincla madagascariensisA61
Nuttallornis borealisA61
Penthestes atricapillusCM07
CoquusUSDI77
|--C. newtoniUSDI77
`--C. typicusUSDI77
HemipteryxScl66
|--H. immaculata Hartlaub in Sclater 1866Scl66
`--H. textrixScl66
Drymoeca subruficapillaScl66
Campicola pileataScl66
Bessonornis phoenicurusScl66
PetrocinclaScl66
|--P. exploratorScl66
|--P. pandooV41
`--P. saxatilisV41
HyphantornisScl66
|--H. olivaceusScl66
`--H. spilonotusScl66
Chera progneScl66
Poliospiza gularisScl66
Fringillaria capensisScl66
Cuphopterus Hartlaub in Dohrn 1866D66
`--*C. dohrni Hartlaub in Dohrn 1866D66
Parinia leucophaeaD66
Buserinus rufilatus Hartlaub in Dohrn 1866D66
Symplectes princepsD66
BradyornisH66
|--‘Crateropus’ guttatusH66
`--B. spekeiH66
MixornisW66
|--M. flavicollis [=Timalia flavicollis]W66
|--M. gularis (see below for synonymy)W66
`--M. rubicapilla (Tickell 1833) [=Motacilla rubicapilla; incl. Mi. chloris, Mi. ruficeps]W66
Otocompsa jocosaB66
CalobatesB66
|--C. melanope [=Motacilla melanope]S89
`--C. sulphureaB66
MuniaW66
|--M. acuticaudaW66
|--M. amandavaSch66
|--M. malabaricaB66
|--M. punctulariaSch66 [=Loxia punctulariaW66]
|--M. striataW66
`--M. undulata [=Loxia undulata]W66
GeobasileusR66
|--G. chrysorrhoeaCH89
`--G. reguloidesR66
Turdicus Kretzoi 1962M02
`--*T. tenuis Kretzoi 1962M02
‘Turdoides’ Jánossy 1979 non Crezschmar 1827M02
`--*T. borealis Jánossy 1979M02
Myiolestes megarhynchusB50
Quoyornis leucurusC44
ChibiaC44
|--C. bracteataC44
`--C. splendensS89
Rosina coronataC44
Mixornis gularis [=Motacilla gularis, Myiothera gularis, Timalia gularis; incl. Prinia pileata Blyth 1842, Mixornis sumatranus]W66
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A61] 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.
[B50] Brooks, J. L. 1950. Speciation in ancient lakes. Quarterly Review of Biology 25: 30–60.
[B66] Bulger, G. E. 1866. List of birds observed at Wellington, Neilgherry Hills, about 6000 feet above the level of the sea, during the months of April and May, 1866. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 568–571.
[CM07] Cokendolpher, J. C., & P. G. Mitov. 2007. Natural enemies. In: Pinto-da-Rocha, R., G. Machado & G. Giribet (eds) Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones pp. 339–373. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).
[C44] Condon, H. T. 1944. The birds of the Northern Territory. Part I. South Australian Naturalist 22 (4): 3–8.
[CH89] Cox, J. D., & A. G. Hamilton. 1889. A list of the birds of the Mudgee district, with notes on their habits, etc. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 4 (2): 395–424.
[D66] Dohrn, H. 1866. Synopsis of the birds of Ilha do Principe, with some remarks on their habits and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 324–332.
[EC02] Ericson, P. G. P., L. Christidis, M. Irestedt & J. A. Norman. 2002. Systematic affinities of the lyrebirds (Passeriformes: Menura), with a novel classification of the major groups of passerine birds. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 25: 53–62.
[H66] Hartlaub, G. 1866. On a new species of the genus Crateropus, Sw. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 435–436.
[KSW17] Ksepka, D. T., T. A. Stidham & T. E. Williamson. 2017. Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K–Pg mass extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 114 (30): 8047–8052.
[M04] Mayr, G. 2004. The phylogenetic relationships of the early Tertiary Primoscenidae and Sylphornithidae and the sister taxon of crown group piciform birds. Journal of Ornithology 145: 188-198.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[MM06] Mayr, G., & A. Manegold. 2006. New specimens of the earliest European passeriform bird. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51 (2): 315–323.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[OF19] Oliveros, C. H., D. J. Field, D. T. Ksepka, F. K. Barker, A. Aleixo, M. J. Andersen, P. Alström, B. W. Benz, E. L. Braun, M. J. Braun, G. A. Bravo, R. T. Brumfield, R. T. Chesser, S. Claramunt, J. Cracraft, A. M. Cuervo, E. P. Derryberry, T. C. Glenn, M. G. Harvey, P. A. Hosner, L. Joseph, R. T. Kimball, A. L. Mack, C. M. Miskelly, A. T. Peterson, M. B. Robbins, F. H. Sheldon, L. F. Silveira, B. T. Smith, N. D. White, R. G. Moyle & B. C. Faircloth. 2019. Earth history and the passerine superradiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 116 (16): 7916–7925.
Raikow, R. J. 1982. Monophyly of the Passeriformes: test of a phylogenetic hypothesis. Auk 99 (3): 431–455.
[R66] Ramsay, E. P. 1866. Notes on the most frequent fosterparents of the cuckoos of Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 571–577.
[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX.—Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a, 7: 369–438.
[Sch66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[Scl66] Sclater, P. L. 1866. Report on birds collected at Windvogelberg, South Africa, by Capt. G. E. Bulger, C. M. Z. S. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 21–23.
[SWK87] Snyder, N. F. R., J. W. Wiley & C. B. Kepler. 1987. The Parrots of Luquillo: Natural history and conservation of the Puerto Rican parrot. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology: Los Angeles.
[USDI77] United States Department of the Interior. 1977. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants—republication of list of species. Federal Register 42: 36420–36431.
[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.
[W66] Walden, A. 1866. Notes on birds collected in Tennasserim and in the Andaman Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 537–556.
[W69] Wiens, J. A. 1969. An approach to the study of ecological relationships among grassland birds. Ornithological Monographs 8: 1-93.