Phoenicopteriformes /fnɪˈkɒptərɪfɔːrmz/ is a group of water birds which comprises flamingos and their extinct relatives. Flamingos (Phoenicopteriformes) and the closely related grebes (Podicipedidae) are contained in the parent clade Mirandornithes.[1]

Phoenicopteriformes
Temporal range: Eocene to recent 50–0 Ma
James's flamingos (Phoenicopterus jamesi)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Mirandornithes
Order: Phoenicopteriformes
Fürbringer, 1888
Subclades

Agnopterus?
Juncitarsus?
Kashinia?
Scaniornis?
Palaelodidae
Phoenicopteridae


  Neognathae    
  Mirandornithes  
  Phoenicopteriformes  

  modern flamingos

  Podicipediformes  

  grebes

  ... other modern birds ...

Fossil record

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Flamingos and their relatives are well attested in the fossil record, with the first unequivocal member of the Phoenicopteridae, Elornis, known from the late Eocene epoch.

Relation to extinct palaelodids

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The Palaelodidae – an extinct family of peculiar "swimming flamingos" – are believed to be the closest relatives of the modern flamingos, with the extinct genus Juncitarsus slightly more primitive than the clade which contains flamingos and grebes (Mirandornithes).

The foot and wing anatomy of fossil palaelodids suggests that they were surface-swimming birds, rather than grebe-like divers as was proposed in the past. Whether swimmers or divers, that both primitive phoenicopteriforms and their closest relatives, the grebes, were highly aquatic, indicates that the entire clade Mirandornithes evolved from aquatic, probably swimming ancestors.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mayr, G. (2004). "Morphological evidence for sister group relationship between flamingos (Aves: Phoenicopteridae) and grebes (Podicipedidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 140 (2): 157–169. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2003.00094.x.