Body pterylosis of Atrichornis, Menura, the "Corvid Assemblage" and other possibly related Passerines (Aves: Passeriformes)

Abstract

In a study of the body pterylosis of Atrichornis clamosus and Menura novaehollandiae, the dorsal and ventral feather tracts of these taxonomic enigmas are compared with the pterylae of 96 other passerine genera in an effort to discover relationships. I conclude that scrub-birds and lyrebirds are each other's closest relatives but that the degree of similarity is such that they should remain separated taxonomically, at least in different families. Their next closest relationships lie with the Paradisaeidae-Ptilonorhynchidae-Callaeidae complex; the degree of similarity is not strong, but it is stronger than it is to any other passerine group.