Encyclopedia of Life · EOL (see source)
Phaethontiformes
The Phaethontiformes are an order of birds. They contain one extant family, the tropicbirds (Phaethontidae), and one extinct family Prophaethontidae from the early Cenozoic. Several fossil genera have been described, with well-preserved fossils known as early as the Paleocene. The group's origins may lie even earlier if the enigmatic waterbird Novacaesareala from the latest Cretaceous or earliest Paleocene of New Jersey is considered a tropicbird.
Species
ORDER
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassAves
- OrderPhaethontiformes
Observations recorded165,512
Los fetontiformes (Phaethontiformes) son un orden de aves neognatas en el que hay una sola familia actual, la de los fetóntidos (Phaethontidae), y un único género actual, Phaethon, compuesto por tres especies conocidas vulgarmente como faetones, rabijuncos o aves del trópico.[1][2] Son aves tropicales marinas de mediano tamaño que no superan el metro de talla. Antes se clasificaban en el orden pelecaniformes, pero tras el último Congreso Ornitológico Internacional, a raíz de la convención de 2010 de la American Ornithologists' Union,[3] se ha llegado al consenso de que deben clasificarse en un orden propio. Además, se conocen fósiles desde el Paleoceno en la extinta familia Prophaethontidae.[4] Referencias ↑ Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2010. The Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.5. Cornell University Press. Downloadable from Cornell Lab of Ornithology ↑ Peterson, A. P. 2010. Birds of the World -- current valid scientific avian names. Consultado en enero de 2011. ↑ R. Terry Chesser et al., «Fifty-First Supplement to the American Ornithologists 'Union Check-List of North American Birds»,The Auk, vol. 127, n ° 3
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The Phaethontiformes are an order of birds. They contain one extant family, the tropicbirds (Phaethontidae), and one extinct family Prophaethontidae from the early Cenozoic. Several fossil genera have been described, with well-preserved fossils known as early as the Paleocene. The group's origins may lie even earlier if the enigmatic waterbird Novacaesareala from the latest Cretaceous or earliest Paleocene of New Jersey is considered a tropicbird.
Many phaethontiform fossil taxa are known from the Paleocene and Eocene, but the fossil record becomes much more scant after the Oligocene. This suggests that around this time, the group may have moved out of the nearshore habitats where they were easier to fossilize and evolved the pelagic lifestyle that is still retained by the few surviving members today.