10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. So do parrots, some songbirds, humans, and a few other mammals. The Hoatzin, which may have reached South America by raft , has resisted placement in basically every study ever done. In 2008, Nick Sly published a review of Hackett et al.

Family 279

Family Parrots Birds 2014 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2014

First off, it seems that New Zealand’s two iconic families of ratites, large flightless southern birds that includes emus, rhea, ostriches, cassowaries and the extinct elephant birds, are not particularly closely related. With the arrival of the Maori the secret penguin was, unfortunately, wiped out.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Penguins Sea Lions Lions 161

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Not, as Linneaus thought, an ostrich, nor even, as later scientists concluded, a distant cousin of pigeons deserving of family rank, it was an honest-to-goodness pigeon, deeply embedded within the family Columbidae. For much more, see The history of the Dodo Raphus cucullatus and the penguin of Mauritius (PDF).

Solomon Islands 272

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 272