Birds of a feather not related to each other
Anna Gosline
19:00 08 December 04

If it walks like a flamingo and looks like a flamingo, it is not necessarily
a flamingo - or even a close relative. A controversial genetic study
suggests we have completely misunderstood how the majority of birds are
related, and that some species that look almost identical are not related at
all.

The discovery comes from an analysis of the evolution of the bird gene
beta-fibrinogen. It suggests that the Neoaves, a group that includes all
modern bird species except waterfowl, landfowl and flightless birds,
actually comprises two distinct lineages called the Metaves and Coronaves,
and that many birds which look alike are not in the same lineage.

For instance, flamingos and roseate spoonbills - two pink, long-legged
wading birds with similar-looking heads, wing shapes and plumage - are not
related as previously thought. Flamingos, it turns out, belong to the
Metaves, while spoonbills belong to the Coronaves.

Matthew Fain and Peter Houde at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces,
US, analysed the number of different nucleotides found on beta-fibrinogen
across some 150 bird families. From that the researchers constructed a new
avian evolutionary tree.

Full Text at New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996762

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek
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