Coliiformes

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Coliiformes

‎Infraclassis: Aves
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Coliiformes
Familiae: Coliidae
Name

Coliiformes Murie, 1872: 278 ["Coliomorphae"]
References
Primary references

Murie, J. 1872. On the genus Colius, its Structure and Systematic Place. The Ibis Ser. 3. 2: 262–280. BHL Reference page.

Links

Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, trogons, hoopoes, hornbills – IOC World Bird List v12.1

Vernacular names
čeština: myšáci
Nordfriisk: Müsfögler
日本語: ネズミドリ目
македонски: Птици-глувци
Nederlands: Muisvogels
中文: 鼠鸟目

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).[2] 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.[3][4]
Description

Mousebirds are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body feathers. They are typically about 10 cm (3.9 in) in body length, with a long, thin tail a further 20–24 cm (7.9–9.4 in) in length, and weigh 45–55 g (1.6–1.9 oz).[5] 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.[6]
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.[3]

The latter were previously a separate order,[7] 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.[8] The genus Selmes, for example, is probably a coliid, but only distantly related to the modern genera.[9]

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.[10]
Taxonomy

Order COLIIFORMES[11][12]

Genus †Botauroides Shufeldt 1915 (Eocene of Wyoming, US)
†B. parvus Shufeldt 1915
Genus †Eobucco Feduccia & Martin 1976 - sandcoleid?
†E. brodkorbi Feduccia & Martin 1976
Genus †Eocolius Dyke & Waterhouse 2001 (London Clay Early Eocene of Walton-on-the-Naze, England) - sandcoleid or coliid
†E. walkeri Dyke & Waterhouse 2001
Genus †Limnatornis Milne-Edwards 1871 [Palaeopicus Lambrecht 1933 ex Brodkorb 1952] (Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France) - coliid? (Urocolius?)
†L. consobrinus (Milne-Edwards 1871) [Picus consobrinus Milne-Edwards 1871; Palaeopicus consobrinus (Milne-Edwards 1871) Lambrecht 1933 nomen nudum; Urocolius consobrinus (Milne-Edwards 1871)]
†L. paludicola Milne-Edwards 1871 [Colius paludicola (Milne-Edwards 1871) Ballmann 1969a; Urocolius paludicola (Milne-Edwards 1871)]
†L. archiaci (Milne-Edwards 1871) [Picus archiaci Milne-Edwards 1871; Colius archiaci (Milne-Edwards 1871) Ballmann 1969a; Urocolius archiaci (Milne-Edwards 1871) Mlíkovský 2002] (Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France)
Coliiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Late Miocene of Kohfidisch, Austria)[13]
Genus †Uintornis Marsh 1872 - sandcoleid?
†U. lucaris Brodkorb 1971
†U. marionae Feduccia & Martin 1976
Family †Chascacocoliidae Zelenkov & Dyke 2008
Genus †Chascacocolius Houde & Olson 1992 (Late Paleocene ?- Early Eocene) - basal? sandcoleid?
†C. oscitans Houde & Olson 1992
†C. cacicirostris Mayr 2005
Family †Selmeidae Zelenkov & Dyke 2008
Genus †Selmes Mayr 1998 ex Peters 1999 (Middle Eocene ?-Late Oligocene of C Europe) - coliid? (synonym of Primocolius?)
†S. absurdipes Mayr 1998 ex Peters 1999
Family †Sandcoleidae Houde & Olson 1992 sensu Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2004
Genus †Sandcoleus Houde & Olson 1992 (Paleocene)
†S. copiosus Houde & Olson 1992
Genus †Anneavis Houde & Olson 1992
†A. anneae Houde & Olson 1992
Genus †Eoglaucidium Fischer 1987
†E. pallas Fischer 1987
Genus †Tsidiiyazhi Ksepka, Stidham & Williamson 2017 (Paleocene of New Mexico)
†T. abini Ksepka, Stidham & Williamson 2017
Family Coliidae Swainson 1837 sensu Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2004
Genus †Celericolius Ksepka & Clarke 2010
†C. acriala Ksepka & Clarke 2010
Genus †Masillacolius Mayr & Peters 1998 (middle Eocene of Messel, Germany)
†M. brevidactylus Mayr & Peters 1998
Genus †Oligocolius Mayr 2000 (Early Oligocene of Frauenweiler, Germany)
†O. brevitarsus Mayr 2000
†O. psittacocephalon Mayr 2013
Genus †Palaeospiza Allen 1878
†Palaeospiza bella Allen 1878
Genus †Primocolius Mourer-Chauviré 1988 (Late Eocene/Oligocene of Quercy, France)
†P. sigei Mourer-Chauviré 1988
†P. minor Mourer-Chauviré 1988
Subfamily Coliinae
Genus Urocolius (2 species)
U. indicus (Latham 1790) (Red-faced mousebird)
U. macrourus (Linnaeus 1766) (Blue-naped mousebird)
Genus Colius [Necrornis Milne-Edwards 1871] (4 species)
†C. hendeyi Vickers-Rich & Haarhoff 1985
†C. palustris (Milne-Edwards 1871) Ballmann 1969 [Necrornis palustris Milne-Edwards 1871][14][15]
C. castanotus Verreaux & Verreaux 1855 (Red-backed mousebird)
C. colius (Linnaeus 1766) (White-backed mousebird)
C. leucocephalus Reichenow 1879 (White-headed mousebird)
C. striatus Gmelin 1789 (Speckled mousebird)

Footnotes

Daniel T. Ksepka; Thomas A. Stidham; Thomas E. Williamson (2017). "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 of the United States of America. 114 (30): 8047–8052. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.8047K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1700188114. PMC 5544281. PMID 28696285.
Jarvis, E. D.; Mirarab, S.; Aberer, A. J.; et al. (2014). "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds". Science. 346 (6215): 1320–1331. Bibcode:2014Sci...346.1320J. doi:10.1126/science.1253451. PMC 4405904. PMID 25504713.
Ksepka, D.T.; Stidham, T.A.; Williamson, T.E. (2017). "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. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.8047K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1700188114. PMC 5544281. PMID 28696285.
Zelenkov, Nikita V.; Dyke, Gareth J. (2008). "The Fossil Record and Evolution of Mousebirds (Aves: Coliiformes)". Palaeontology. 51 (6): 1403–1418. Bibcode:2008Palgy..51.1403Z. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00814.x.
Cunningham-Van Someren, G.R. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-1-85391-186-6.
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
Houde, Peter; Olson, Storrs L. (1992). "A radiation of coly-like birds from the Eocene of North America (Aves: Sandcoleiformes, new order)" (PDF). Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series. 36: 137–160. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2006-09-05.
Mayr, Gerald; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile (1999). "Unusual tarsometatarsus of a mousebird from the Paleogene of France and the relationships of Selmes Peters, 1999" (PDF). J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 24 (2): 366–372. doi:10.1671/1970. S2CID 59146377.
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.
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
Mikko's Phylogeny Archive [1] Haaramo, Mikko (2007). "COLIIFORMES – mousebirds". Retrieved 19 November 2020.
Paleofile.com [2]. "Aves". Retrieved 30 December 2015.
Similar to Urocolius and Limnatornis (if distinct): Mlíkovský (2002)
Peter Ballmann (1969): Les oiseaux miocènes de La Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère). – Géobios 2: p 157-204.

Storrs Olson (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds In: Avian Biology, No. 8: p. 79–238

References

Hackett, S.; et al. (2008). "A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History". Science. 320 (5884): 1763–1768. Bibcode:2008Sci...320.1763H. doi:10.1126/science.1157704. PMID 18583609. S2CID 6472805.

McCormack, J.E. et al. (2012) A phylogeny of birds based on over 1,500 loci collected by target enrichment and high-throughput sequencing.

Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. ISBN 80-901105-3-8 PDF fulltext