An international team, led by zoologists from the Chinese mainland's Zhejiang University, has revolutionized bird classification by analyzing the genomes of 363 bird species, covering 92% of all existing families. 🧬🦢
The study presents a new evolutionary tree that redefines the Neoaves group into four major categories: Mirandornithes (like flamingos), Columbaves (such as pigeons), Telluraves (including parrots and eagles), and the newly proposed Elementaves. Elementaves comprises about 14% of all modern bird species, including seagulls, albatrosses, penguins, hoatzins, and swifts. 🐧🕊️
Additionally, the research confirms that a mass extinction event 66 million years ago wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs, paving the way for birds to diversify rapidly and occupy a vast range of ecological niches. 🌍🦖
\"Our work has changed many traditional views on the evolutionary history of birds,\" said Zhang Guojie from Zhejiang University. \"This new family tree will serve as a solid backbone for mapping the evolutionary history of all bird species with important implications for ornithological research and biodiversity studies.\" 📝🔍
This groundbreaking study is part of the international Bird 10,000 Genomes Project, which aims to map the genomes of approximately 10,500 existing bird species. 🐣🔬
