Biology:Mesite

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Short description: Family of birds

Mesites
Subdesert Mesite.jpg
Subdesert mesite (Monias benschi)
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Columbimorphae
Order: Mesitornithiformes
Wetmore, 1960
Family: Mesitornithidae
Wetmore, 1960
Genera

Mesitornis
Monias

Madagaskar-mesites-06.jpg
Respective ranges: brown mesite in orange, white-breasted mesite in green and subdesert mesite in blue

The mesites (Mesitornithidae) are a family of birds that are part of a clade (Columbimorphae) that include Columbiformes and Pterocliformes.[1] They are smallish flightless or near flightless birds endemic to Madagascar . They are the only family with more than two species in which every species is threatened (all three are listed as vulnerable).[vague][clarification needed]

Description

The mesites are forest and scrubland birds that feed on insects and seeds; brown and white-breasted mesites forage on the ground, gleaning insects from underneath leaves as well as low vegetation. The subdesert mesite uses its long bill to probe in the soil. Other birds, such as drongos and flycatchers, will follow mesites to catch any insects they flush out or miss. Mesites are vocal birds, with calls similar to a passerine song, used for territorial defence. Two or three white eggs are laid in a stick-built nest located in a bush or on a low branch.[2] The Mesitornis species are monogamous[3] while Monias benschi is polygamous and, unlike the other two, shows significant sexual dichromatism.

Systematics

There are two genera, Mesitornis (2 species) and Monias (subdesert mesite).[4][5]

Image Genus Species
Subdesert Mesite.jpg Monias Oustalet & Grandidier, 1903
White-breasted Mesite - Ankarafantsika - Madagascar S4E9441 (15297364032).jpg Mesitornis Bonaparte, 1855 [Mesites Geoffroy, 1838 non Schoenherr, 1838; Mesoenas Reichenbach, 1861]

Historically, mesites' phylogenetic relationships were not very clear; they have been allied with the Gruiformes,[6] Turniciformes[7] and Columbiformes.[8]

Recent phylogenomic studies support Pterocliformes (sandgrouse) as the sister group of mesites[1][9][10] while some more recent studies place this clade with another clade constituted of Columbiformes and Cuculiformes (cuckoos).[11]

Columbiformes (pigeons)

Cuculiformes (cuckoos)

Pterocliformes (sandgrouses)

Mesitornithiformes (mesites)

Phylogenetic relationship of the mesites within Neoaves.[11]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jarvis, E.D. (2014). "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds". Science 346 (6215): 1320–1331. doi:10.1126/science.1253451. PMID 25504713. Bibcode2014Sci...346.1320J. 
  2. Archibald, George W. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph. ed. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 100–101. ISBN 978-1-85391-186-6. 
  3. Gamero, Anna; Székely, Tamás; Kappeler, Peter M. (2014). "Delayed juvenile dispersal and monogamy, but no cooperative breeding in white-breasted mesites (Mesitornis variegatus)". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68: 73–83. doi:10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4. 
  4. IOC World Bird List v6.3 [1]. "IOC Names File Plus 6.3". http://www.worldbirdnames.org/IOC_Names_File_Plus-6.3.xlsx. 
  5. Part 7- Vertebrates. http://mave.tweakdsl.nl/tn/genera7.html. Retrieved 30 June 2016. 
  6. Sibley, Charles; Jon Edward Ahlquist (1990). Phylogeny and classification of birds. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04085-7. 
  7. Livezey, Bradley C.; Zusi, RL (January 2007). "Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy. II. Analysis and discussion". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149 (1): 1–95. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00293.x. PMID 18784798. 
  8. Hackett, Shannon J.; Kimball, Rebecca T.; Reddy, Sushma; Bowie, Rauri C. K.; Braun, Edward L.; Braun, Michael J.; Chojnowski, Jena L.; Cox, W. Andrew et al. (2008). "A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History". Science 320 (5884): 1763–1768. doi:10.1126/science.1157704. PMID 18583609. Bibcode2008Sci...320.1763H. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1157704. 
  9. Fain, Matthew G.; Houde, Peter (2004). "Parallel radiations in the primary clades of birds". Evolution 58 (11): 2558–2573. doi:10.1554/04-235. PMID 15612298. 
  10. Yuri, T. (2013). "Parsimony and Model-Based Analyses of Indels in Avian Nuclear Genes Reveal Congruent and Incongruent Phylogenetic Signals". Biology 2 (1): 419–444. doi:10.3390/biology2010419. PMID 24832669. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 H Kuhl, C Frankl-Vilches, A Bakker, G Mayr, G Nikolaus, S T Boerno, S Klages, B Timmermann, M Gahr (2020) An unbiased molecular approach using 3’UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life. Molecular Biology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa191

Wikidata ☰ Q659657 entry