Trochilidae

Fossil skeleton of Eurotrochilus inexpectatus, from G. Mayr.

Belongs within: Apodiformes.
Contains: Phaethornithinae, Trochilinae.

The Trochilidae are the hummingbirds, a group of very small, long-billed nectarivorous birds. Modern hummingbirds are found only in the New World, though the early Oligocene Eurotrochilus inexpectatus attests to their past presence in Europe.

Characters (from Mayr 2004): Size tiny; humerus and ulna extremely abbreviated and stocky, pronounced distal protrusion on humeral head; sternal end of coracoid column-like with convex dorsal surface and greatly reduced lateral process; sternal carina very high, caudal margin of corpus lacking any incisions; furcula widely U-shaped; legs very thin; bill greatly elongated, maxillary processes of palatine widely separated.

<==Trochilidae [Trochili, Trochiliformes]
    |--Eurotrochilus Mayr 2004 M04
    |    `--*E. inexpectatus Mayr 2004 M04
    `--+--Phaethornithinae B94
       `--Trochilinae B94

Trochilidae incertae sedis:
  Melanotrochilus fuscus M02
  Sericotes holosericeus RN72
  Damophila julie JT12
  Chlorestes notata JT12
  Leucochloris albicollis RN72
  Boissonneaua RN72
    |--B. flavescens JT12
    |--B. jardini RN72
    `--B. matthewsii JT12
  Paphosia adorabilis A61
  Stellula calliope FP64
  Calothorax FP64
    |--C. lucifer FP64
    `--C. pulcher JT12
  Anthracothorax RN72
    |--A. dominicus SWK87
    |--A. mango JT12
    |--A. nigricollis RN72
    |--A. prevostii JT12
    |--A. verguensis JT12
    |--A. viridigula JT12
    `--A. viridis SWK87
  Aglaiocercus RN72
    |--A. berlepschi JT12
    |--A. coelestis RN72
    |--A. emmae RN72
    `--A. kingi RN72
         |--A. k. kingi RN72
         `--A. k. mocoa RN72
  Saucerotia devillei FS55
  Myrmia micrura JT12
  Ramphomicron JT12
    |--R. dorsale JT12
    `--R. microrhynchum JT12
  Myrtis fanny JT12
  Panterpe insignis JT12
  Phlogophilus JT12
    |--P. harterti JT12
    `--P. hemileucurus JT12
  Polyonymus caroli JT12
  Pterophanes cyanopterus JT12
  Taphrospilus hypostictus JT12
  Taphrolesbia griseiventris JT12
  Thaumastura cora JT12
  Sternoclyta cyanopectus JT12
  Tilmatura dupontii JT12
  Urochroa bougueri JT12
  Abeillia abeillei JT12
  Atthis JT12
    |--A. ellioti JT12
    `--A. heloisa JT12
  Chrysuronia oenone JT12
  Chaetocercus JT12
    |--C. astreans JT12
    |--C. berlepschi JT12
    |--C. bombus JT12
    |--C. heliodor JT12
    |--C. jourdanii JT12
    `--C. mulsant JT12
  Anthocephala floriceps JT12
  Anopetia gounellei JT12
  Aphantochroa cirrochloris JT12
  Hylonympha macrocerca JT12
  Goethalsia bella JT12
  Eulidia yarrellii JT12
  Lamprolaima rhami JT12
  Heliactin bilophus JT12
  Haplophaedia JT12
    |--H. assimilis JT12
    |--H. aureliae JT12
    `--H. lugens JT12
  Elvira JT12
    |--E. chionura JT12
    `--E. cupreiceps JT12
  Lepidopyga JT12
    |--L. coeruleogularis JT12
    |--L. goudoti JT12
    `--L. lilliae JT12
  Microstilbon burmeisteri JT12

*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.

[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.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444-448.

[M02] Mayr, G. 2002. Osteological evidence for paraphyly of the avian order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and allies). Journal für Ornithologie 143: 82-97.

[M04] Mayr, G. 2004. Old World fossil record of modern-type hummingbirds. Science 304: 861-864.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 2. Blandford Press: London.

[SWK87] Snyder, N. F. R., J. W. Wiley & C. B. Kepler. 1987. The Parrots of Luquillo: Natural history and conservation of the Puerto Rican parrot. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology: Los Angeles.

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.