Coraciiformes
Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, Rollers, and relatives
Joseph W. Brown and John Harshman
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close boxDiscussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
Several families traditionally assigned to Coraciiformes have been removed from the order. Bucerotidae and Bucorvidae (hornbills), Upupidae and Phoeniculidae (hoopoes) have been given their own order, Bucerotiformes. Leptosomus (cuckoo roller) is not a roller, and is only distantly related to other traditional coraciiforms. An order that included all these groups would also have to encompass Piciformes and Trogoniformes.
References
Burton, P. J. K. 1984. Anatomy and evolution of feeding apparatus in the avian orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 47:331-443.
Fry, C.H., Fry, K. and Harris, A. 1992. Kingfishers, Bee-Eaters and Rollers: A Handbook. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Hackett, S. J., Kimball, R. T., Reddy, S., Bowie, R. C. K., Braun, E. L., Braun, M. J., Chojnowski, J. L., Cox, W. A., Han, K.-L., Harshman, J., Huddleston, C. J., Marks, B. D., Miglia, K. J., Moore, W. A., Sheldon, F. H., Steadman, D. W., Witt, C. C., and Yuri, T. 2008. A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history. Science 320(5884):1763-1768.
Title Illustrations
| Scientific Name | Momotus momota |
|---|---|
| Location | Tobago |
| Comments | Blue-crowned Motmot |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Copyright |
© Greg and Marybeth Dimijian
|
| Scientific Name | Coracias caudatus |
|---|---|
| Location | Masai Mara, Kenya |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Source | Pretty Bird |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Image Use |
 This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
|
| Copyright | © 2006 Vearl Brown |
| Scientific Name | Halcyon albiventris |
|---|---|
| Location | Kruger National Park, South Africa |
| Specimen Condition | Live Specimen |
| Source | Brown Hooded Kingfisher |
| Source Collection | Flickr |
| Copyright |
© 2006 Callie de Wet
|
About This Page
Joseph W. Brown
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Joseph W. Brown at and John Harshman at
Page copyright © 2008 Joseph W. Brown and
Page: Tree of Life
Coraciiformes. Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, Rollers, and relatives.
Authored by
Joseph W. Brown and John Harshman.
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- First online 14 December 2005
- Content changed 27 June 2008
Citing this page:
Brown, Joseph W. and John Harshman. 2008. Coraciiformes. Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, Rollers, and relatives. Version 27 June 2008 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Coraciiformes/56738/2008.06.27 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
