Birds are one of the most successful lineages of terrestrial animals. Direct descendants of the mighty dinosaurs, birds appeared during the Jurassic and they diversified during the Cretacic after developing their biggest asset for success: the ability of flight. After outcompeting the iconic pterosaurs for the control of the sky and surviving the massive extinction at the end of the Mesozoic, birds experimented an explosive radiation that led them to colonize all terrestrial ecosystems. Due to this fast evolutionary history, the relationship between the main avian groups has been very difficult to disentangle using the fossil record.

PhylomeDB expands its collection of phylomes to include 48 bird species across 32 of the 35 accepted avian orders. The phylogenetic analysis of this species suggest several independent origins of vocal capabilities, a carnivorous ancestor for all modern birds and a single teeth loss in the avian lineage. You can browse these phylomes and find more information in the associated publication. (Phylome IDs 225 and 226 (Chicken, Gallus gallus), 227 (Sea eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus), 228 (Cuckoo roller, Leptosomus discolor), 229 (Hoatzin, Ophisthocomus hoazin) and 230 (Tropicbird, Phaethon lepturus))