A supermatrix phylogeny of corvoid passerine birds (Aves: Corvides).
The Corvides (previously referred to as the core Corvoidea) are a morphologically diverse clade of passerine birds comprising nearly 800 species. The group originated some 30 million years ago in the proto-Papuan archipelago, to the north of Australia, from where lineages have dispersed and colonized all of the world's major continental and insular landmasses (except Antarctica). During the last decade multiple species-level phylogenies have been generated for individual corvoid families and more recently the inter-familial relationships have been resolved, based on phylogenetic analyses using multiple nuclear loci. In the current study we analyse eight nuclear and four mitochondrial loci to generate a dated phylogeny for the majority of corvoid species. This phylogeny includes 667 out of 780 species (85.5%), 141 out of 143 genera (98.6%) and all 31 currently recognized families, thus providing a baseline for comprehensive macroecological, macroevolutionary and biogeographical analyses. Using this phylogeny we assess the temporal consistency of the current taxonomic classification of families and genera. By adopting an approach that enforces temporal consistency by causing the fewest possible taxonomic changes to currently recognized families and genera, we find the current familial classification to be largely temporally consistent, whereas that of genera is not.
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK; Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. Electronic address: kajonsson@snm.ku.dk.
Knud Andreas
KA
Jønsson
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Pierre-Henri
PH
Fabre
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Jonathan D
JD
Kennedy
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK.
Ben G
BG
Holt
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Michael K
MK
Borregaard
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK.
Carsten
C
Rahbek
Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
Jon
J
Fjeldså
D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D046109:Passeriformes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
Corvides; Molecular phylogeny; Passeriformes; Systematics; Taxonomy