Order: Apodiformes
Description
This order included Swifts, Treeswifts, and Hummingbirds. Similarities between these groups are especially found in the structure of the wing, with both arm and forearm very short while the hand is elongated.
Taxonomy
Apodiformes was an order in the class Aves. It's now included in the order Caprimulgiformes.
Recent results show that the former order Apodiformes is embedded within Caprimulgiformes. There were three possible solutions:
- 1 Transfer Owlet-nightjars to Apodiformes,
- 2 Make a new overriding taxon that contains Apodiformes and Aegothelidae, OR
- 3 Embed Apodiformes within the nightjars (Caprimulgiformes)
Clements choose the last solution and the Opus follows and no longer accepts Apodiformes.
References
- Abstract of a paper describing the phylogeny of Caprimulgiformes and Apodiformes: Michael J. Braun and Christopher J. Huddleston (in print 2009). A molecular phylogenetic survey of caprimulgiform nightbirds illustrates the utility of non-coding sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
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