Sunday, December 12, 2004
Birds of a Feather
"If it walks like a flamingo and looks like a flamingo, it is not necessarily a flamingo - or even a close relative. A controversial genetic study suggests we have completely misunderstood how the majority of birds are related, and that some species that look almost identical are not related at all.
The discovery comes from an analysis of the evolution of the bird gene beta-fibrinogen. It suggests that the Neoaves, a group that includes all modern bird species except waterfowl, landfowl and flightless birds, actually comprises two distinct lineages called the Metaves and Coronaves, and that many birds which look alike are not in the same lineage.
For instance, flamingos and roseate spoonbills - two pink, long-legged wading birds with similar-looking heads, wing shapes and plumage - are not related as previously thought. Flamingos, it turns out, belong to the Metaves, while spoonbills belong to the Coronaves.
Matthew Fain and Peter Houde at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, US, analysed the number of different nucleotides found on beta-fibrinogen across some 150 bird families. From that the researchers constructed a new avian evolutionary tree."
The above come from The New Scientist and really is an interesting article which you may read by clicking here. Bird is of course surprised that the roseate spoonbills aren't directly related, but he maintains his "think pink" attitude as a matter of faith. Spoonbills and flamingos can still be friends, even though bird was always suspicious because of the spoonbills propensity to nest in trees. This was always something that brought chuckles to the flamingo families where bird grew up. Couple that with the fact Bird's grandfather grew up with a family of spoonbills, and even though he always referred to his stepmother as "that ugly chick" the flamingo family was always appreciative of their efforts with the old bird.
This story takes a stranger turn when after further research one learns that the roseate spoonbills are much more closely related to the American wild turkey than they are to flamingos. Turkeys, as it turns out, are not considered flightless birds.
The discovery comes from an analysis of the evolution of the bird gene beta-fibrinogen. It suggests that the Neoaves, a group that includes all modern bird species except waterfowl, landfowl and flightless birds, actually comprises two distinct lineages called the Metaves and Coronaves, and that many birds which look alike are not in the same lineage.
For instance, flamingos and roseate spoonbills - two pink, long-legged wading birds with similar-looking heads, wing shapes and plumage - are not related as previously thought. Flamingos, it turns out, belong to the Metaves, while spoonbills belong to the Coronaves.
Matthew Fain and Peter Houde at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, US, analysed the number of different nucleotides found on beta-fibrinogen across some 150 bird families. From that the researchers constructed a new avian evolutionary tree."
The above come from The New Scientist and really is an interesting article which you may read by clicking here. Bird is of course surprised that the roseate spoonbills aren't directly related, but he maintains his "think pink" attitude as a matter of faith. Spoonbills and flamingos can still be friends, even though bird was always suspicious because of the spoonbills propensity to nest in trees. This was always something that brought chuckles to the flamingo families where bird grew up. Couple that with the fact Bird's grandfather grew up with a family of spoonbills, and even though he always referred to his stepmother as "that ugly chick" the flamingo family was always appreciative of their efforts with the old bird.
This story takes a stranger turn when after further research one learns that the roseate spoonbills are much more closely related to the American wild turkey than they are to flamingos. Turkeys, as it turns out, are not considered flightless birds.
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