Tempo and mode of modern bird evolution observed with large-scale taxonomic sampling

Abstract

Macroevolutionists continue to disagree about the evolutionary history of birds. Their debate centers on the apparent discrepancy between molecular- and fossil-derived times of certain events. In this study we will show that there is much more agreement than discrepancy. We do it by simultaneously using both molecules (DNA hybridization and DNA sequence) and fossils to study a large set of avian taxa. Our analysis focuses on the time of origin and diversification of most of the orders and families of extant birds. Both tools show that the Cretaceous–Tertiary transition witnessed a major ordinal diversification within extant birds. Both also show a pulse of family diversification near the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Thus both of these pulses occurred close to times of mass extinction. The presented evolutionary time scale for extant birds launches testing of novel inter-disciplinary hypotheses.