Meliphagidae Phylogeny

[Greg Oakley <>]

Penny Drake-Brockman wrote:
Come on everyone - it's not that difficult - just have to have at hand the
right dictionary! Is there one published which is up to date?


This paper is actually quite fascinating - some of it is pretty heavy going, but there are some interesting findings ­ eg. in a subclade of Clade 4 of Meliphagidae, it was found that there is a 'sister' relationship between the Painted and Striped HE, and even more unexpected, the Blue-faced HE is not closely related to miners and wattlebirds, but is more aligned to the Melithreptus group (White-naped HE)! It is also mentioned that despite the large size difference between these genera, the plumage of the BF/HE is remarkably similar to that of Melithreptus.

Cheers,
Greg