Smithsonian Scientists Rearrange Hawaii's Bird Family Tree (IMAGE)
Caption
Until the 1980s, when the last species went extinct, five Hawaiian honeyeater species sipped nectar from Hawaii’s flowers. These birds, illustrated lower left (Hawaii 'o' o) and upper center (kioea), have always been considered Australasian honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae; two on right branch), and share many similarities in form, behavior and ecology. However, DNA sequence analyses of museum specimens by Smithsonian researchers reveal that the Hawaiian species are distantly related to meliphagids and are instead a new songbird family, the Mohoidae, related to Holarctic waxwings (shown upper left), neotropical silky flycatchers and related families. The mohoids and meliphagids are a remarkable example of convergent evolution, and the only bird family known to go extinct over the past few centuries.
Credit
John Anderton
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