Alcidae

Thick-billed murre Uria lomvia, photographed by Allan & Elaine Wilson.

Belongs within: Charadriiformes.

The Alcidae include the auks, murres (or guillemots) and puffins. Alcids are heavy-bodied marine birds with legs placed far back on the body that use their wings to propel themselves when diving. Members of the family are found in the Arctic and north temperate regions.

<==Alcidae [Alcides, Petralcidae, Phalerididae, Plautidae, Triolidae]
    |--Lunda cirrhata (Pallas 1769) I92
    |--Nautilornis FP64
    |--Australca grandis FP64
    |--Cyclorrhynchus ME04
    |--Ptychorhamphus ME04
    |--Hydrotherikornis oregonus Miller 1931 R76
    |--Cerorhinca Bonaparte 1828 [Cerorhincidae] B94
    |    `--C. monocerata ZJM03
    |--Alca Linnaeus 1758 [incl. Pinguinus Bonnaterre 1791, Plautus Brünnich 1772 (nom. rej.) non Gunnerus 1761] M02
    |    |--A. impennis (Linnaeus 1758) (see below for synonymy) M02
    |    `--A. torda Linnaeus 1758 M02
    |--Alle Link 1806 [incl. Plautus Gunnerus 1761 (nom. inv.); Allidae] B94
    |    `--A. alle ZJM03 [=Plautus alle FP64]
    |--Petralca Mlíkovský 1987 M02
    |    `--*P. austriaca Mlíkovský 1987 M02
    |--Synthliboramphus Brandt 1837 [Synthliboramphidae] B94
    |    |--S. antiquus (Gmelin 1789) I92
    |    `--S. wumizusume (Temminck 1835) I92
    |--Fratercula Brisson 1760 [incl. Mormon Illiger 1811; Fraterculidae, Mormonidae] B94
    |    |--F. arctica ZJM03
    |    |--F. cirrhata FP64
    |    `--F. corniculata WBSJ82
    |--Brachyramphus Brandt 1837 [Brachyramphidae] B94
    |    `--B. marmoratus I92
    |         |--B. m. marmoratus I92
    |         `--B. m. perdix (Pallas 1811) I92
    |--Cepphus Pallas 1769 [Cepphidae] M02
    |    |--C. carbo WBSJ82
    |    |--C. columba WBSJ82
    |    |--C. grylle ZJM03
    |    `--C. storeri Harrison 1977 M02
    |--Aethia Merrem 1788 [incl. Phaleris Temminck 1820, Simorhynchus Merrem 1819; Aethiidae, Simorhynchidae] B94
    |    |--A. cristatella WBSJ82
    |    |--A. psittacula WBSJ82
    |    |--A. pusilla WBSJ82
    |    `--A. pygmaea WBSJ82
    `--Uria Brisson 1760 [Uriidae] M02
         |--U. aalge (Pontoppidan 1763) [=Colymbus aalge] M02
         |    |--U. a. aalge I92
         |    `--U. a. inornata Salomonsen 1932 I92
         |--U. ausonia Portis 1889 M02
         `--U. lomvia ZJM03

Alca impennis (Linnaeus 1758) [=Pinguinus impennis, Plautus impennis; incl. A. major Brisson 1760 (nom. inv.)] 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.

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

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[ME04] Mayr, G., & P. G. P. Ericson. 2004. Evidence for a sister group relationship between the Madagascan mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the cuckoos (Cuculidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 84 (1-2): 1-17.

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

[R76] Ray, C. E. 1976. Fossil marine mammals of Oregon. Systematic Zoology 25 (4): 420-436.

[WBSJ82] Wild Bird Society of Japan. 1982. A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan. Kodansha International Ltd.: Tokyo.

[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.