Cariamiformes

Common card · No. 206153

Cariamiformes (or Cariamae) is an order of primarily flightless birds that has existed for over 50 million years. The group includes the family Cariamidae (seriemas) and the extinct families such as Phorusrhacidae, Bathornithidae, Idiornithidae, and Ameghinornithidae. Extant members (seriemas) are only known from South America, but fossils of many extinct taxa are also found in other continents including Europe and North America. Though traditionally considered a suborder within Gruiformes, both morphological and genetic studies show that it belongs to a separate group of birds, Australaves, whose other living members are Falconidae, Psittaciformes, and Passeriformes. This proposal has been confirmed by molecular phylogenetics. The Cariamiformes are sister to the remaining extant Australaves. Falcons are then sister to the remaining Australaves, the parrots and Passeriformes. In combination with the fact that the Hieraves, which are sister to all other Afroaves lineages, are also predatory...

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