Alcedines

Blue-crowned motmot Momotus momota, photographed by Stephen Turner.

Belongs within: Coraciiformes.
Contains: Alcedinidae.

The Alcedines are a clade of birds supported by molecular analysis uniting the Alcedinidae (kingfishers), Todidae (todies) and Momotidae (motmots). The latter two families are presently restricted to the New World, but stem representatives of both families have been identified from the Palaeogene fossil record of Europe (Mayr & Knopf 2007).

<==Alcedines [Alcedinoides, Halcyones, Momotoidea]
    |--Todidae MK07
    |    |--Palaeotodus Olson 1976 MK07
    |    |    |--*P. emryi Olson 1976 MK07
    |    |    |--P. escampsiensis Mourer-Chauviré 1985 MK07
    |    |    `--P. itardiensis Mourer-Chauviré 1985 MK07
    |    `--Todus Brisson 1760 B94
    |         |--T. todus (Linnaeus 1758) [incl. *T. viridis Linné 1766] B94
    |         |--T. angustirostris MK07
    |         |--T. mexicanus EA06
    |         `--T. multicolor Gould 1837 M04
    `--+--Alcedinidae MK07
       `--Momotidae [Merulidae, Prionitidae] MK07
            |  i. s.: Uintornis lucaris FP64
            |         Hylomanes Lichtenstein 1839 [Hylomanidae] M04
            |         Eumomota Sclater 1858 M04
            |           `--E. superciliosa FP64
            |                |--E. s. superciliosa FS55
            |                `--E. s. apiaster FS55
            |--Protornis Meyer 1844 MK07, M04
            |    |--*P. glarniensis Meyer 1844 (see below for synonymy) M02
            |    `--P. blumeri Heer 1865 M02
            `--+--Electron Gistel 1848 MK07, M04
               |--Aspatha MK07
               |--Baryphthengus MK07
               `--Momotus Brisson 1760 MK07, M04 [incl. Prionites Illiger 1811 B94]
                    |--M. brasiliensis SS66
                    |--M. lessonii FS55
                    |--M. martii SS66
                    |--M. mexicanus ZJM03
                    `--M. momota MK07

*Protornis glarniensis Meyer 1844 [=P. glarisiensis (l. c.), P. glaronensis; incl. Osteornis scolopacinus Gervais 1844] M02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281.

[EA06] Ericson, P. G. P., C. L. Anderson, T. Britton, A. Elzanowski, U. S. Johansson, M. Källersjö, J. I. Ohlson, T. J. Parsons, D. Zuccon & G. Mayr. 2006. Diversification of Neoaves: integration of molecular sequence data and fossils. Biology Letters 2 (4): 543-547.

[FS55] Felten, H., & J. Steinbacher. 1955. Zur Vogelfauna von El Salvador. Senckenbergiana Biologica 36 (1-2): 9-19.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[M04] Mayr, G. 2004. New specimens of Hassiavis laticauda (Aves: Cypselomorphae) and Quasisyndactylus longibrachis (Aves: Alcediniformes) from the Middle Eocene of Messel, Germany. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 252: 23-28.

[M05] Mayr, G. 2005. The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe. Biological Reviews 80: 515-542.

[MK07] Mayr, G., & C. W. Knopf. 2007. A tody (Alcediniformes: Todidae) from the early Oligocene of Germany. Auk 124 (4): 1294-1304.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175-201.

[ZJM03] Zeffer, A., L. C. Johansson & Å. Marmebro. 2003. Functional correlation between habitat use and leg morphology in birds (Aves). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 79: 461-484.