Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation

The order Passeriformes ("perching birds") comprises extant species diversity comparable to that of living mammals. For over a decade, a single phylogenetic hypothesis based on DNA-DNA hybridization has provided the primary framework for numerous comparative analyses of passerine ecological and behavioral evolution and for tests of the causal factors accounting for rapid radiations within the group. We report here a strongly supported phylogenetic tree based on two single-copy nuclear gene sequences for the most complete sampling of passerine families to date. This tree is incongruent with that derived from DNA-DNA hybridization, with half of the nodes from the latter in conflict and over a third of the…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0228693
• SI
  Smithsonian Institution
• UO
  University of Minnesota