Coraciiformes

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Coraciiformes
Temporal range:
Middle Eocene
to present
European roller
Coracias garrulus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Picodynastornithes
Order: Coraciiformes
Forbes, 1884
Families
  • Meropidae
  • Brachypteraciidae
  • Coraciidae
  • Todidae
  • Momotidae
  • Alcedinidae

For prehistoric taxa, see text.

Global distribution of the kingfisher and allies.

The Coraciiformes /kɒrəˈsaɪ.ɪfɔːrmiːz/ are a group of usually colourful birds including the kingfishers, the bee-eaters, the rollers, the motmots, and the todies. They generally have syndactyly, with three forward-pointing toes (and toes 3 & 4 fused at their base), though in many kingfishers one of these is missing.[citation needed] The members of this order are linked by their “slamming” behaviour, thrashing their prey onto surfaces to disarm or incapacitate them.[1]

This is largely an Old World order, with the representation in the New World limited to the dozen or so species of todies and motmots, and a mere handful of the more than a hundred species of kingfishers.

The name Coraciiformes means "

Latin language "corax", meaning "raven" and Latin "forma", meaning "form".[2]

Systematics

Coraciiformes 

Meropidae
– bee-eaters

Brachypteraciidae
– ground rollers

Coraciidae – rollers

Todidae
– todies

Alcedinidae
– kingfishers

Momotidae
– motmots

Phylogenetic relationships between the families based on a large study by Richard Prum and colleagues published in 2015.[3]

This order has been seen to be something of a mixed assortment, and the Coraciiformes may be considered as including only the rollers. All the other families would then be considered to represent lineages of birds distantly related to Coraciiformes. This seems to be oversplitting, as most Coraciiformes indeed form a reasonably robust clade.

Analysis of

Passeriformes (Johansson & Ericson 2003; see also near passerine
).

Several extinct coraciiform families are only known from

taxa
of the present-day families have been described; see the family articles for details.

Taxonomic sequence

Unresolved

A recent study suggest that the following families may belong to a separate order called Bucerotiformes. The results still in dispute though.[4]

  • Family
    Bucorvidae
    (ground hornbills)
  • Family
    Bucerotidae
    (hornbills)
  • Family
    Upupidae
    (hoopoe)
  • Family
    Phoeniculidae
    (woodhoopoes)

The

Leptosomidae (cuckoo roller) probably do not belong here. The trogons are sometimes placed here as a family Trogonidae. The Late Eocene Palaeospizidae are sometimes also placed in the Coraciiformes, as are the Early to Middle Eocene Primobucconidae and the Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene Sylphornithidae
. The Primobucconidae at least indeed seem to belong here.

Basal group

Suborder

Alcedines

  • Family
    Todidae
    (todies)
  • Family
    Momotidae
    (motmots)
  • Family
    Alcedinidae
    (kingfishers)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Coraciiformes". Britannica. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. ISBN 0-394-46651-9
    .
  3. PMID 26444237
    .
  4. ^ "Bucerotiformes". tolweb.org. Retrieved 31 March 2018.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coraciiformes&oldid=1218210194"