Near-complete phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the world's babblers (Aves: Passeriformes)
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
The babblers are a diverse group of passerine birds comprising 452 species. The group was long regarded as a “scrap basket” in taxonomic classification schemes. Although several studies have assessed the phylogenetic relationships for subsets of babblers during the past two decades, a comprehensive phylogeny of this group has been lacking. In this study, we used five mitochondrial and seven nuclear loci to generate a dated phylogeny for babblers. This phylogeny includes 402 species (ca. 89% of the overall clade) from 75 genera (97%) and all five currently recognized families, providing a robust basis for taxonomic revision. Our phylogeny supports seven major clades and reveals several non-monophyletic genera. Divergence time estimates indicate that the seven major clades diverged around the same time (18–20 million years ago, Ma) in the early Miocene. We use the phylogeny in a consistent way to propose a new taxonomy, with seven families and 64 genera of babblers, and a new linear sequence of names.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |
Volume | 130 |
Pages (from-to) | 346-356 |
Number of pages | 11 |
ISSN | 1055-7903 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
- Babblers, Passeriformes, Phylogeny, Rogue taxa, Supertree, Taxonomy, Temporal banding
Research areas
ID: 241418518