JSON
Cai T, Cibois A, Alström P, Moyle RG, Kennedy JD, Shao S, Zhang R, Irestedt M, Ericson PGP, Gelang M, Qu Y, Lei F, Fjeldså J
Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 130 (-) 346-356 [2019-01-00; online 2018-10-12]
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.
NGI Stockholm (Genomics Applications) [Service]
NGI Stockholm (Genomics Production) [Service]
National Genomics Infrastructure [Service]
PubMed 30321696
DOI 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.010
Crossref 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.010
pii: S1055-7903(18)30278-1