title: A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history.
abstract: Deep avian evolutionary relationships have been difficult to resolve as a result of a putative explosive radiation. Our study examined approximately 32 kilobases of aligned nuclear DNA sequences from 19 independent loci for 169 species, representing all major extant groups, and recovered a robust phylogeny from a genome-wide signal supported by multiple analytical methods. We documented well-supported, previously unrecognized interordinal relationships (such as a sister relationship between passerines and parrots) and corroborated previously contentious groupings (such as flamingos and grebes). Our conclusions challenge current classifications and alter our understanding of trait evolution; for example, some diurnal birds evolved from nocturnal ancestors. Our results provide a valuable resource for phylogenetic and comparative studies in birds.
authors.affiliation: Zoology Department, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.
authors.forename: Shannon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hackett
authors.forename: Rebecca T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Kimball
authors.forename: Sushma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Rauri C K
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bowie
authors.forename: Edward L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Jena L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chojnowski
authors.forename: W Andrew
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Kin-Lan
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harshman
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Huddleston
authors.forename: Ben D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Marks
authors.forename: Kathleen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Miglia
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Frederick H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Sheldon
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Steadman
authors.forename: Christopher C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Tamaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yuri
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005426:Flight, Animal; D016678:Genome; D023281:Genomics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA