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. Other major conclusions of this study are that: 1) the so-called 'corvid assemblage' is not a natural group; 2) Astrapia is a core member of the Paradisaeidae-Ptilonorhynchidae group, with its pattern lying between the normal patterns for paradisaeine and cnemophiline birds-of-paradise and reminiscent of that of bowerbirds; 3) Platylophus is not a corvid and Podoces, Pseudopodoces, and Ptilostomus are probably not, either; and 4) Grallina shows no pterylographic relationship to Struthidea and Corcorax.
