The genetic tree of birds

[Rob Geraghty via Canberrabirds <>]

Thanks, Robin. I'd need to spend quote a bit of time working out the various families, but it's interesting to see the Nightjars placed with Swifts and Hummingbirds as suggested in Wikipedia. From the circular graphic, it looks like Australaves including songbirds were the last to appear, but split into more species than the others combined. It makes sense that Ostriches, which most resemble bipedal dinosaurs might be the oldest. I'm surprised to see Penguins evolving before most terrestrial birds.

On Sun, 7 July 2024, 13:23 Robin Hide, <> wrote:

This perhaps useful?

Robin

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07323-1#Sec5

and

Supplementary information: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07323-1#Sec37

 

 

Josefin Stiller, S. F., Al-Aabid Chowdhury, Iker Rivas-González, David A. Duchêne et al. (2024). “Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes”. Nature 01 April 2024,  629: 851–60  :https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07323-1#Sec5

Supplementary information: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07323-1#Sec37

 

 

Abstract:

Despite tremendous efforts in the past decades, relationships among main avian lineages remain heavily debated without a clear resolution. Discrepancies have been attributed to diversity of species sampled, phylogenetic method, and the choice of genomic regions 1–3. Here, we address these issues by analyzing genomes of 363 bird species 4 (218 taxonomic families, 92% of total). Using intergenic regions and coalescent methods, we present a well-supported tree but also a remarkable degree of discordance. The tree confirms that Neoaves experienced rapid radiation at or near the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary. Sufficient loci rather than extensive taxon sampling were more effective in resolving difficult nodes. Remaining recalcitrant nodes involve species that challenge modeling due to extreme GC content, variable substitution rates, incomplete lineage sorting, or complex evolutionary events such as ancient hybridization. Assessment of the impacts of different genomic partitions showed high heterogeneity across the genome. We discovered sharp increases in effective population size, substitution rates, and relative brain size following the K–Pg extinction event, supporting the hypothesis that emerging ecological opportunities catalyzed the diversification of modern birds. The resulting phylogenetic estimate offers novel insights into the rapid radiation of modern birds and provides a taxon-rich backbone tree for future comparative studies.

 

 

From: Canberrabirds <> On Behalf Of Rob Geraghty via Canberrabirds
Sent: Sunday, 7 July 2024 12:52 PM
To: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] The genetic tree of birds

 

Is there any book which describes what has been learned about the genetic tree of birds? I'd love to see a visualisation of the various bird families and when they evolved. I was surprised to learn today that Australian Owlet-nightjars and American Nighthawks aren't closely related. I've been told that Lyrebirds and Bristlebirds are ancient, but I don't know if the genetic evidence backs it up.

The book "Where song began" suggests that the genes indicate songbirds evolving in Australia. I've seen genetic maps for humans spreading out from Africa, but not birds spreading across the world. 

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