Charadriiformes

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Charadriiformes
Crested Auklets (Aethia cristatella)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Huxley, 1867
Families
Scolopacidae Rostratulidae Jacanidae Thinocoridae Pedionomidae Laridae Rhynchopidae Sternidae Alcidae Stercorariidae Glareolidae Dromadidae Turnicidae Burhinidae Chionididae Pluvianellidae Ibidorhynchidae Recurvirostridae Haematopodidae Charadriidae

Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 350 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most Charadriiformes live near water and eat invertebrates or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (sea birds), some occupy deserts and a few are found in thick forest.

The order was formerly divided into three suborders:

• The waders (or "Charadrii"): typical shorebirds, most of which feed by probing in the mud or picking items off the surface in both coastal and freshwater environments.
• The gulls and their allies (or "Lari"): these are generally larger species which take fish from the sea. Several gulls and skuas will also take food items from beaches, or rob smaller species, and some have become adapted to inland environments.
• The auks (or "Alcae") are coastal species which nest on sea cliffs and "fly" underwater to catch fish.

The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, which has been widely accepted in America, lumps all the Charadriiformes together with the seabirds and birds of prey into a greatly enlarged order Ciconiiformes. However, the resolution of the DNA-DNA hybridization technique used by Sibley & Ahlquist was not sufficient to properly resolve the relationships in this group, and indeed it appears as if the Charadriiformes consititute a single large and very distinctive lineage of modern birds of their own.

The auks, usually considered distinct because of their peculiar morphology, are more likely related to gulls, the "distinctness" being a result of adaptation for diving. Following recent research (Ericson et al., 2003; Paton et al., 2003; Thomas et al., 2004a, b; van Tuinen et al., 2004; Paton & Baker, 2006), a better arrangement may be as follows:

• ORDER CHARADRIIFORMES
  • Suborder Scolopaci: snipe-like waders
    • Family Scolopacidae: snipe, sandpipers, phalaropes, and allies
  • Suborder Thinocori: aberrant charadriforms
    • Family Rostratulidae: painted snipe
    • Family Jacanidae: jacanas
    • Family Thinocoridae: seedsnipe
    • Family Pedionomidae: Plains Wanderer
  • Suborder Lari: gulls and allies
    • Family Laridae: gulls
    • Family Rhynchopidae: skimmers
    • Family Sternidae: terns
    • Family Alcidae: puffins, guillemots, murres, and allies
    • Family Stercorariidae: skuas
    • Family Glareolidae: pratincoles and coursers
    • Family Dromadidae: Crab Plover
  • Suborder Turnici: buttonquails
    • Family Turnicidae: buttonquails
  • Suborder Chionidi: thick-knees and allies
    • Family Burhinidae: thick-knees
    • Family Chionididae: sheathbills
    • Family Pluvianellidae: Magellanic Plover
  • Suborder Charadrii: plover-like waders
    • Family Ibidorhynchidae: Ibisbill
    • Family Recurvirostridae: avocets and stilts
    • Family Haematopodidae: oystercatchers
    • Family Charadriidae: plovers and lapwings

More conservatively, the Thinocori could be included in the Scolopaci, and the Chionidi in the Charadrii, or the Glareolidae could be placed in a tribe of their own. The arrangement as presented here is basically the consensus of the recent studies (see van Tuinen et al., 2004; Paton & Baker, 2006).

[edit] References

• Ericson, P. G. P.; Envall, I.; Irestedt, M. & Norman, J. A. (2003): Inter-familial relationships of the shorebirds (Aves: Charadriiformes) based on nuclear DNA sequence data. BMC Evol. Biol. 3: 16. DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-3-16 PDF fulltext

• Paton, Tara A. & Baker, Allan J. (2006): Sequences from 14 mitochondrial genes provide a well-supported phylogeny of the Charadriiform birds congruent with the nuclear RAG-1 tree. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(3): 657–667. DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.011 (HTML abstract)

• Paton, Tara A.; Baker, Allan J.; Groth, J. G. & Barrowclough, G. F. (2003): RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29: 268-278. DOI:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8 (HTML abstract)

• Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004a): Phylogeny of shorebirds, gulls, and alcids (Aves: Charadrii) from the cytochrome-b gene: parsimony, Bayesian inference, minimum evolution, and quartet puzzling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30(3): 516-526. DOI:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00222-7 (HTML abstract)

• Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004b): A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 PDF fulltext Supplementary Material

• van Tuinen, Marcel; Waterhouse, David & Dyke, Gareth J. (2004): Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships. Journal of Avian Biology 35(3): 191-194. PDF fulltext