DNA-DNA hybridization-based phylogeny for "higher" nonpasserines: reevaluating a key portion of the avian family tree

A matrix of delta T mode values for 10 birds, including 9 nonpasserines and a suboscine passerine flycatcher, was generated by DNA-DNA hybridization. Within the most derived lineages, all bootstrapped and jackknifed FITCH trees lend strong support to sister-groupings of the two swift families, of hummingbirds to swifts, and of these to a clade containing both owls and night-hawks. The outgroup duck roots the tree between the woodpecker (Piciformes) and the remaining taxa, indicating that Piciformes are among the earliest branches within nonpasserines. However, the succeeding branches to kingfisher, mousebird, and suboscine passerine flycatcher are based on short internodes that are poorly supported by bootstrapping and that give inconsistent results in jackknifing. Although these 3 orders may have arisen through rapid or near-simultaneous divergence, placement of the "advanced" Passeriformes deep within a more "primitive" radiation indicates that nonpasserines are paraphyletic, echoing the same distinction for reptiles with respect to their advanced descendants. Despite significant rate variation among different taxa, these results largely concur with those obtained with the same technique by Sibley and Ahlquist, who used the delta T50H measure and UPGMA analysis. This agreement lends credence to some of their more controversial claims.