Discovery of a new bird family

Based on analysis of several genes, a team of researchers from five countries, incl researcher Per Alström (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), identified ten primary branches in the tree of life of one of the largest groups of passerine birds, the so-called Passerida, which comprises ca 36 percent of the World’s ca 10,500 bird species.

Remarkably, one of these primary branches was made up of a single species, the Spotted Wren-Babbler Spelaeornis formosus, which is a small Wren-like bird that occurs in mountains from the eastern Himalayas to southeast China.

This species apparently represents an old branch in the large passerine tree, without any close living relatives. The fact that it resembles wren-babblers and wrens in appearance is either due to pure chance or to convergent evolution, which may result in similar appearances in unrelated species that live in similar environments.

The researchers propose the new family name Elachuridae for this single species. They also suggest that the scientific name Elachura formosa should be used, and the English name be changed to Elachura, to highlight its distinctness.

Article: Alström, P., Hooper, D.M., Liu, Y., Olsson, U., Mohan, D., Gelang, M., Hung, L.M., Zhao, J., Lei, F. & Price, T.D. 2014. Discovery of a relict lineage and monotypic family of passerine birds. Biology Letters.

Contact:

Dr Per Alström, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences

per.alstrom@slu.se

ph. +46 70 454 69 65 (or from 10 March, + 86 188 1075 9215)

http://www.slu.se/per-alstrom-research 

Caption:  The Spotted Wren-Babbler, now in a new family with a new name. (Photo: Per Alström/SLU)