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Australaves
Clade of birds / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Australaves[3] is a recently defined[4] clade of birds, consisting of the Eufalconimorphae (passerines, parrots and falcons) as well as the Cariamiformes (including seriemas and the extinct "terror birds").[5] They appear to be the sister group of Afroaves.[5]
Australaves | |
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Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Telluraves |
Clade: | Australaves Ericson, 2012 |
Clades | |
The clade's name, meaning "southern birds," reflects the group's evolutionary origins in the Southern Hemisphere: passerines and parrots in Australia, and falcons and sereimas in South America.[4]
As in the case of Afroaves, the most basal clades have predatory extant members, suggesting this was the ancestral lifestyle;[6] however, some researchers like Darren Naish are skeptical of this assessment, since some extinct representatives such as the herbivorous Strigogyps led other lifestyles.[7] Basal parrots and falcons are at any rate vaguely crow-like and probably omnivorous.[8]
Australaves |
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Cladogram of Telluraves relationships based on Kuhl et al. (2020) and Braun & Kimball (2021)[2][9]