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Clade
Subclade

Taxon
Taxon
Neornithes
Nominal Author
Gadow 1883
2nd Nominal Author
Taxon Status ACTIVE
Comments

As discussed briefly above, Neornithes rather than Aves is the preferred taxon for crown birds because it better reflects historical taxonomic precedence and current use. In the recent literature, Neornithes has been used for crown birds by a wide variety of morphological and molecular phylogeneticists (Cracraft 1988, Sibley and Ahlquist 1990, Feduccia 1995, Chiappe 1995, Livezey and Zusi 2001, Mayr and Clarke 2003). Minor variation in the recent literature has not gained adherents; Martin (1983), for example, used Neornithes for a clade including Ichthyornithiformes and “modern birds.” Gauthier and de Queiroz (2001:29) suggested that Neornithes be used for hesperornithiforms and extant birds, and that Neornithes be regarded as a junior synonym of Ornithurae. These suggestions conflict with widespread current use of Neornithes for crown birds as well as the intention of the original author of the taxon (Gadow 1892).

Sereno (1998) provided the initial and the only previous definition for Neornithes, a node-based definition that circumscribes a clade based on one nested paleognath, the ostrich (Struthio camelus), and one nested neognath, the European sparrow (Passer domesticus). The active definition is a first-order revision that uses species rather than genera as specifiers. Molecular and morphological analyses put these two taxa on either side of a basal dichotomy (e.g. Sibley and Ahlquist 1990, Livezy and Zusi 2001, Mayr and Clarke 2003). The addition of a tinamou to the definition of Neornithes (or to a comparably inclusive Aves—Gauthier 1986, Gauthier and de Queiroz 2001) is not warranted; no analysis that I am aware positions tinamous outside a clade defined on the basis of Struthio camelus and Passer domesticus.

Potential Synonomy
Aves (sensu Gauthier 1986)

Active Phylogenetic Definition
Active Definition
The least inclusive clade containing Struthio camelus (Linnaeus 1758) and Passer domesticus (Linnaeus 1758).
Shorthand
< Struthio camelus and Passer domesticus.
Definitional Author
Sereno 2005
Definition Status checked
Definition Type NODE
Node-Stem Triplet NODE
Other Triplet Taxa
Paleognathae, Neognathae
Specifiers
Specifier(s) A
Struthio camelus
Specifier(s) B
Passer domesticus
Specifier(s) C
Qualifiers
+Taxon
-Taxon
Datum
Taxonomic Content
Publication Year Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
1998

Inactive Taxon Status
Rejection Criteria
Critique
 

Definitional History #1
Earliest Record
Struthio (ostrich), Passer (sparrow), their common ancestor and all descendants.
Latest Record
Sereno 1998:59
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