Mousebird Explained

The mousebirds are birds in the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Cavitaves, which includes the Leptosomiformes (the cuckoo roller), Trogoniformes (trogons), Bucerotiformes (hornbills and hoopoes), Piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans, and barbets) and Coraciformes (kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, motmots, and todies).[1] This group is now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, and it is the only bird order confined entirely to that continent, with the possible exception of turacos which are considered by some as the distinct order Musophagiformes, and the cuckoo roller, which is the only member of the order Leptosomiformes, and which is found in Madagascar but not mainland Africa. Mousebirds had a wider range in the Paleogene, with a widespread distribution in Europe and North America during the Paleocene.[2] [3]

Description

Mousebirds are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body feathers. They are typically about 10cm (00inches) in body length, with a long, thin tail a further 20cm-24cmcm (10inches-09inchescm) in length, and weigh 45g55g.[4] They are arboreal and scurry through the leaves like rodents, in search of berries, fruit and buds. This habit, and their legs, gives rise to the group's English name. They are acrobatic, and can feed upside down. All species have strong claws and reversible outer toes (pamprodactyl feet). They also have crests and stubby bills.

Behaviour and ecology

Mousebirds are gregarious, again reinforcing the analogy with mice, and are found in bands of about 20 in lightly wooded country. These birds build cup-shaped twig nests in trees, which are lined with grasses. Clutches of two to three eggs are typically laid.[5]

Systematics and evolution

The mousebirds could be considered "living fossils" as the six species extant today are merely the survivors of a lineage that was massively more diverse in the early Paleogene and Miocene. There are comparatively abundant fossils of Coliiformes, but it has not been easy to assemble a robust phylogeny. The family is documented to exist from the Early Paleocene onwards; by at least the Late Eocene, two families are known to have existed, the extant Coliidae and the longer-billed prehistorically extinct Sandcoleidae.[2]

The latter were previously a separate order,[6] but eventually it was realized that they had come to group ancestral Coraciiformes, the actual sandcoleids and forms like Neanis together in a paraphyletic assemblage. Even though the sandcoleids are now assumed to be monophyletic following the removal of these taxa, many forms cannot be conclusively assigned to one family or the other.[7] The genus Selmes, for example, is probably a coliid, but only distantly related to the modern genera.[8]

Extinct Coliiformes occupied a wide range of ecologies. Sandcoleids in particular often preserve uncrushed seeds on their stomachs, while bearing talons similar to those of modern birds of prey.[9]

Taxonomy

Order COLIIFORMES[10] [11]

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Jarvis. E. D. . Mirarab . S.. Aberer. A. J.. Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds. Science. 2014. 346. 6215. 1320–1331 . 10.1126/science.1253451 . etal . 25504713 . 4405904. 2014Sci...346.1320J .
  2. Ksepka . D.T. . Stidham . T.A. . Williamson . T.E. . Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K–Pg mass extinction . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 114 . 30 . 8047–8052 . 10.1073/pnas.1700188114 . 28696285 . 2017 . 5544281 . 2017PNAS..114.8047K . free .
  3. 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00814.x. The Fossil Record and Evolution of Mousebirds (Aves: Coliiformes). 2008. Zelenkov. Nikita V.. Dyke. Gareth J.. Palaeontology. 51. 6. 1403–1418. 2008Palgy..51.1403Z . free.
  4. Book: Forshaw, Joseph. Cunningham-Van Someren, G.R.. 1991. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. Merehurst Press. London. 138–139. 978-1-85391-186-6.
  5. Winkler, D. W., S. M. Billerman, and I.J. Lovette (2020). Mousebirds (Coliidae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.coliid1.01
  6. Houde . Peter . Storrs Olson . Olson . Storrs L. . 1992 . A radiation of coly-like birds from the Eocene of North America (Aves: Sandcoleiformes, new order) . Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series . 36 . 137–160 . 2006-09-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060905091812/http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/houde/sandcoleidae.pdf . 2006-09-05 . dead .
  7. Mayr . Gerald . Mourer-Chauviré . Cécile . 1999 . Unusual tarsometatarsus of a mousebird from the Paleogene of France and the relationships of Selmes Peters, 1999 . . 24 . 2. 366–372 . 10.1671/1970 . 59146377 .
  8. It has a peculiar foot morphology not found in any other bird, with very stubby toes. The specific name absurdipes ("absurd foot") refers to this. The genus name is an anagram of "Messel", where it was first found.
  9. Mayr, G. 2018. New data on the anatomy and palaeobiology of sandcoleid mousebirds (Aves, Coliiformes) from the early Eocene of Messel. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 98: 639-651. doi: 10.1007/s12549-018-0328-1
  10. Mikko's Phylogeny Archive http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/ Web site: Haaramo . Mikko . 2007 . COLIIFORMES – mousebirds . 19 November 2020.
  11. [Paleofile.com]
  12. Similar to Urocolius and Limnatornis (if distinct): Mlíkovský (2002)
  13. Peter Ballmann (1969): Les oiseaux miocènes de La Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère). – Géobios 2: p 157-204.
  14. Storrs Olson (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds In: Avian Biology, No. 8: p. 79–238

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