Belongs within: Coraciimorphae.
The Upupiformes, hoopoes, are smaller birds with long, decurved bills found in warmer regions of Africa and Asia. As well as the true hoopoe Upupa epops, living Upupiformes include the wood-hoopoes Phoeniculus and scimitarbills Rhinopomastus of Africa. The hoopoe is primarily fawn with a black-and-white tail and wings, and a tall, black-tipped erectile crest. The wood-hoopoes are metallic in coloration and lack crests.
Characters (Mayr 2000): Beak long, pointed, dorsoventrally high at base; large processus retroarticulares present on mandible; apophysis furculae absent; humerus stout; shaft of ulna with projection distal to cotyla dorsalis; carpometacarpus with osseous ridge from ventral margin of os metacarpale minus to processus pisiformis; caudal margin of os metacarpale minus undulated; hallux long.
<==Upupiformes [Epopinae, Epopomorphae, Epopsinae, Upupides]
|--Laurillardia Milne-Edwards 1871M02 [LaurillardiidaeM09]
| |--*L. longirostris Milne-Edwards 1871 [incl. L. parisiensis Flot 1892]M02
| `--L. munieri Flot 1891M09
|--Messelirrisor Mayr 1998M00, M02 [Messelirrisoridae]
| |--*M. parvus Mayr 1998M02
| |--M. grandis Mayr 2000M00
| `--M. halcyrostris Mayr 1998M09
`--+--Upupa Linnaeus 1758M02 [incl. Epops Morris 1837B94; Epopidae, UpupidaeJT12, Upupinae]
| |--U. africanaAP21
| |--U. antaiosHSS13
| |--U. epops Linnaeus 1758M02 [=Eupupa epopsF17; incl. U. phoeniculides Jánossy 1974M02]
| |--U. marginataS66
| |--U. nigripennisB66
| `--U. paradisea Linnaeus 1758L58
`--Phoeniculidae [Phoeniculinae]JT12
|--Phirriculus Mlíkovský & Göhlich 2000M02
| `--*P. pinicola Mlíkovský & Göhlich 2000M02
|--‘Homalopus’ Milne-Edwards 1871 non Chevrolat 1836U93, M02
| `--*H. picoides Milne-Edwards 1871M02
|--Rhinopomastus Jardine 1828 [Rhinopomastidae]B94
| |--R. aterrimusJT12
| |--R. cyanomelasJT12
| `--R. minor (Rüppell 1845) [=Promerops minor, Epimachus minor]S05
`--Phoeniculus Jarocki 1821M02 [incl. Irrisor Lesson 1831B94; Irrisoridae]
|--P. bolleiJT12
|--P. castaneicepsJT12
|--P. damarensisJT12
|--P. grantiAP21
|--P. purpureusJT12
`--P. somaliensisJT12
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[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.
[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.
[HSS13] Hirschfeld, E., A. Swash & R. Still. 2013. The World’s Rarest Birds. Princeton University Press: Princeton (New Jersey).
[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.
[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis revised 10th ed. vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.
[M00] Mayr, G. 2000. Tiny hoopoe-like birds from the Middle Eocene of Messel (Germany). Auk 117 (4): 964–970.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[S05] Steinheimer, F. D. 2005. Eduard Rüppel’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (2): 233–264.
[U93] Unwin, D. M. 1993. Aves. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 717–737. Chapman & Hall: London.