font settings

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia

Tyranni

(Suborder)

Overview

[ Back to top ]

The of passerine birds Tyranni (the suboscines) includes about 1,000 species, the large majority of which are South American.

These have a different anatomy of the syrinx musculature than the songbirds in the suborder Passeri, the oscine passerines. The available morphological, mt and nDNA sequence, and biogeographical data, as well as the (scant) fossil record, agrees that the Tyranni and Passeri suborders are evolutionarily distinct clades.

Systematics

[ Back to top ]

According to Sibley and Ahlquist's DNA-DNA hybridization studies[1] the Tyranni can be divided into three suborders: Acanthisittides, Eurylaimides, and Tyrannides. The first, containing the Acanthisittidae (New Zealand "wrens"), is of disputed position. Current opinion is that they are more likely a very distinct and ancient lineage, and constitute a suborder on their own.

The Eurylaimides contain the Old World suboscines - mainly distributed in tropical regions around the Indian Ocean - and a single American species, the Broad-billed Sapayoa:

The former three are usually placed into a distinct superfamily from the pittas. More recently, as passeriform relationships become better resolved, there is an increasing trend to elevate the Eurylaimides to suborder rank.

The Tyrannides contain all the suboscines from the Americas, except the Broad-billed Sapayoa:

This group has been separated into three parvorders by Sibley & Ahlquist. However, as indicated above, DNA-DNA hybridization has shown to be not very well suited to reliably resolve the suboscine phylogeny. It was eventually determined that there was a simple dichotomy between the antbirds and allies (tracheophones), and the tyrant-flycatchers and allies.[2] Given that the "parvorder" arrangement originally advanced is certainly obsolete (see e.g. Irestedt et al. 2002 for tracheophone phylogeny) - more so if the Eurylaimides are elevated to a distinct suborder - it would be advisable to rank the clades as superfamilies, or if the broadbillg roup is considered a separate suborder, as infraorders. In the former case, the name Furnarioidea would be available for the tracheophones, whereas "Tyrannioidea", the "bronchophone" equivalent, has not yet been formally defined.[3] In the latter case, the tracheophones would be classified as "Furnariides",[4] while the Tyrannides would be restricted to the tyrant-flycatchers and other "bronchophone" families.

The tracheophones contain the Furnariidae, Thamnophilidae, Formicariidae (probably including most tapaculos), and Conopophagidae. The tyrant-flycatcher clade includes the namesake family, the Tityridae, the Cotingidae, and the Pipridae.

Photos

[ Back to top ]

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

The Suborder Tyranni is a member of the Order Passeriformes. Here is the complete "parentage" of Tyranni:

The Suborder Tyranni is further organized into finer groupings including:

Families

[ Back to top ]

Acanthisittidae

The New Zealand wrens, Acanthisittidae, are a of tiny passerines endemic to New Zealand. They are represented by six or seven known species in four or five genera, although only two species survive today. [more]

Conopophagidae

The gnateaters are a family, Conopophagidae, consisting of ten small passerine species in two genera, which occur in South America. The family was formerly restricted to the gnateater genus Conopophaga; analysis of mtDNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequences (Rice 2005a,b) indicates that the bar-bellied "antpittas", Pittasoma, also belong in this family. These perhaps might be more appropriately called gnatpittas as their similarity to the true antpittas is due to convergent evolution. They are very closely related to the antbirds and less closely to the antpittas and tapaculos. Due to their remote and dim habitat, gnateaters are a little-studied and poorly known family of birds, though they are highly sought after by birdwatchers. [more]

Eurylaimidae

The broadbills are a family of small birds. The Smithornis and Pseudocalyptomena species occur in tropical Africa; the rest extend from the eastern Himalayas to Sumatra and Borneo. [more]

Formicariidae

The Formicariidae, formicariids, or ground antbirds are a of smallish passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America. They are between 10 and 20 cm (4-8 in) in length, and are related to the antbirds, Thamnophilidae, and gnateaters, Conopophagidae. This family contains probably (see below) some 100–120 species in 1 or 2 large and a number of fairly small genera. [more]

Furnariidae

Ovenbirds or furnariids are a large family of small passerine bird species found in Central and South America. They form the family Furnariidae. The North American Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) is a rather distantly related bird, a wood warbler (family Parulidae). [more]

Philepittidae

The asities, are a , the Philepittidae, of small suboscine passerine birds. The family consists of four species in two genera endemic to Madagascar. They were thought to have been related to the pittas, hence the scientific name of the family, but a 1993 study suggested that they are actually just a subfamily of broadbills. The morphology of the syrinx is very similar to the Grauer's Broadbill of Africa. Here they are considered traditionally as a separate family. Some authors have placed the Broad-billed Sapayoa of South America in the family, although it is now mostly considered a broadbill. The Neodrepanis species are known as sunbird-asities and were formerly known as false sunbirds. [more]

Pittidae

Pittas are a , Pittidae, of passerine birds mainly found in tropical Asia and Australasia, although a couple of species live in Africa. [more]

Rhinocryptidae

The tapaculos are a group of small passeriform birds with numerous species, found mainly in South America and with the highest diversity in the Andean regions. Three species, the Choco, the Pale-throated and the Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, are found in southern Central America. [more]

Thamnophilidae

The antbirds are a large , Thamnophilidae, of passerine birds found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 200 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire-eyes, bare-eyes and bushbirds. They are related to the antthrushes and antpittas (family Formicariidae), the tapaculos, the gnateaters and the ovenbirds. [more]

Tyrannidae

The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of birds which occur throughout North and South America, but are mainly tropical in distribution. They are now considered the largest family of birds on earth, with around 400 species. In every country in the Americas, except for the United States and Canada, they are the most diverse avian family. As could be expected from a family this large, the members vary greatly both in shape, patterns and colors. Some Tyrant flycatchers superficially resemble the Old World flycatchers. They are members of suborder Tyranni (suboscines) that do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of the songbirds. [more]

At least 1,480 species and subspecies belong to the Family Tyrannidae.

More info about the Family Tyrannidae may be found here.

References

[ Back to top ]

Footnotes

[ Back to top ]
  1. ^ DNA and Passerine Classification
  2. ^ A conceivable vernacular name would be "bronchophones". This would parallel the German vernacular names, Luftröhrenschreier (tracheophones) and Bronchienschreier (bronchophones).
  3. ^ And thus should not be used without quotation marks.
  4. ^ See remark at "Tyrannioidea". This peculiarity is explained by the fact that Sibley & Ahlquist's analyses erroneously suggested an overly complex phylogeny for the tracheophones, and a much simpler one for the tyrant-flycatchers and allies.

Sources

[ Back to top ]
Last Revised: November 19, 2008