Eurypygimorphae Temporal range: Early Eocene–present |
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Top: white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethontiformes) Bottom: sunbittern (Eurypygiformes) |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Passerea |
Clade: |
Eurypygimorphae Fürbringer, 1888 |
Orders | |
Eurypygimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds) and Eurypygiformes (kagu and sunbittern) recovered by genome analysis the relationship was first identified in 2013 based on their nuclear genes. Historically these birds were placed at different parts of the tree, with tropicbirds in Pelecaniformes and the kagu and sunbittern in Gruiformes, though in the last decade various genetic analysis had found in the almost obsolete clade Metaves of uncertain placement within that group. Their sister taxon is possibly Aequornithes.