Apodiformes

Fossilised remains of Parargornis messelensis, from here. 'Jungornithids' such as Parargornis belong to the hummingbird stem group, but were still short-billed insectivores.

Belongs within: Cypselomorphae.
Contains: Apodi, Trochilidae.

The Apodiformes contains the swifts (Apodi) and hummingbirds (Trochilidae) (Mayr 2005 extends the scope of Apodiformes to also include their sister group, the Aegothelidae [owlet-nightjars]). The Apodiformes are highly aerial birds with much reduced legs, to the extent that they are not able to move by walking.

Synapomorphies (from Mayr 2005): Proximodorsal part of narial openings covered by osseous sheet; humerus and ulna strongly abbreviated, hand greatly elongated.

<==Apodiformes [Micropodiformes]
    |--Eocypselus Harrison 1984 M03a, M03b [Eocypselidae]
    |    `--*E. vincenti Harrison 1984 M03b
    |--Aegialornithidae [Aegialornithinae, Primapinae, Primapodinae] M03a
    |    |--Primapus Harrison & Walker 1975 M03b
    |    |    `--*P. lacki Harrison & Walker 1975 [=Aegialornis lacki] M02
    |    |--Mesogiornis Mlíkovský 2002 M02
    |    |    `--*M. wetmorei (Collins 1976) [=Aegialornis wetmorei; incl. A. broweri Collins 1976] M02
    |    `--Aegialornis Lydekker 1891 M03b [incl. Belornis Milne-Edwards 1893 M02, Tachyornis Milne-Edwards 1892 M02]
    |         |--*A. gallicus Lydekker 1891 M02 (see below for synonymy)
    |         `--A. germanicus Mlíkovský 2002 M02
    `--+--Apodi M03a
       `--Jungornithidae M03a
            |  i. s.: Palescyvus Karchu 1988 M03b, M02
            |           `--*P. escampensis Karhu 1988 M02
            |--Argornis Karhu 1999 M03b
            |    `--A. caucasicus Karhu 1999 M03b
            |--Parargornis Mayr 2003 M03b
            |    `--*P. messelensis Mayr 2003 M03b
            `--+--Trochilidae M03b
               `--Jungornis Karhu 1988 M03b
                    `--J. tesselatus Karhu 1988 M03b

*Aegialornis gallicus Lydekker 1891 M02 [incl. *Tachyornis hirundo Milne-Edwards 1892 M02, *Belornis hirundo M02, Aegialornis leehnardti Gaillard 1908 M02, A. leenhardti M02, Cypseloides mourerchauvireae Mlíkovskỳ 1989 M05, Procypseloides mourerchauvireae M02]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[M03a] Mayr, G. 2003a. Phylogeny of early Tertiary swifts and hummingbirds (Aves: Apodiformes). Auk 120 (1): 145-151.

[M03b] Mayr, G. 2003b. A new Eocene swift-like bird with a peculiar feathering. Ibis 145: 382-391.

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

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