The mousebirds are in the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Cavitaves, which includes the Leptosomiformes (the cuckoo roller), Trogoniformes (trogons), Bucerotiformes (hornbills and hoopoes), Piciformes (woodpeckers, toucans, and Ramphastides) and Coraciiformes (kingfishers, bee-eaters, Coraciidae, , and todies).[
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This group is now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, and it is the only bird order confined entirely to that continent, with the possible exception of Turaco which are considered by some as the distinct order Musophagiformes, and the cuckoo roller, which is the only member of the order Leptosomiformes, and which is found in Madagascar but not mainland Africa. Mousebirds had a wider range in the Paleogene, with a widespread distribution in Europe and North America during the Paleocene.[
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Description
Mousebirds are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body
feathers. They are typically about in body length, with a long, thin tail a further in length, and weigh .
They are arboreal and scurry through the leaves like
, in search of berries, fruit and buds. This habit, and their legs, gives rise to the group's
English language name. They are acrobatic, and can feed upside down. All species have strong claws and reversible outer toes (pamprodactyl feet). They also have crests and stubby bills.
Behaviour and ecology
Mousebirds are gregarious, again reinforcing the analogy with
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Systematics and evolution
The mousebirds could be considered "
" as the six species extant today are merely the survivors of a lineage that was massively more diverse in the early
Paleogene and
Miocene. There are comparatively abundant fossils of Coliiformes, but it has not been easy to assemble a robust
phylogeny. The family is documented to exist from the Early
Paleocene onwards; by at least the Late
Eocene, two families are known to have existed, the extant
Coliidae and the longer-billed prehistorically
extinct Sandcoleidae.
The latter were previously a separate order,[It has a peculiar foot morphology not found in any other bird, with very stubby toes. The specific name absurdipes ("absurd foot") refers to this. The genus name is an anagram of "Messel pit", where it was first found.]
Extinct Coliiformes occupied a wide range of ecologies. Sandcoleids in particular often preserve uncrushed seeds on their stomachs, while bearing talons similar to those of modern birds of prey.[Mayr, G. 2018. New data on the anatomy and palaeobiology of sandcoleid mousebirds (Aves, Coliiformes) from the early Eocene of Messel. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 98: 639–651. doi: 10.1007/s12549-018-0328-1]
Taxonomy
Order COLIIFORMES[Mikko's Phylogeny Archive [1] ][Paleofile.com [2]. ]
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Genus † Botauroides Shufeldt 1915 (Eocene of Wyoming, US)
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† B. parvus Shufeldt 1915
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Genus † Eobucco Feduccia & Martin 1976 - sandcoleid?
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† E. brodkorbi Feduccia & Martin 1976
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Genus † Eocolius Dyke & Waterhouse 2001 (London Clay Early Eocene of Walton-on-the-Naze, England) - sandcoleid or coliid
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† E. walkeri Dyke & Waterhouse 2001
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Genus † Limnatornis Milne-Edwards 1871 Palaeopicus (Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France) - coliid? ( Urocolius?)
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† L. consobrinus (Milne-Edwards 1871) ''Picus
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† L. paludicola Milne-Edwards 1871 ''Colius
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† L. archiaci (Milne-Edwards 1871) ''Picus (Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France)
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Coliiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Late Miocene of Kohfidisch, Austria)
[Similar to Urocolius and Limnatornis (if distinct): Mlíkovský (2002)]
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Genus † Uintornis Marsh 1872 - sandcoleid?
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† U. lucaris Brodkorb 1971
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† U. marionae Feduccia & Martin 1976
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Family †Chascacocoliidae Zelenkov & Dyke 2008
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Genus † Chascacocolius Houde & Olson 1992 (Late Paleocene ?- Early Eocene) - basal? sandcoleid?
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† C. oscitans Houde & Olson 1992
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† C. cacicirostris Mayr 2005
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Family †Selmeidae Zelenkov & Dyke 2008
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Genus † Selmes Mayr 1998 ex Peters 1999 (Middle Eocene ?-Late Oligocene of C Europe) - coliid? (synonym of Primocolius?)
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† S. absurdipes Mayr 1998 ex Peters 1999
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Family †Sandcoleidae Houde & Olson 1992 sensu Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2004
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Genus † Sandcoleus Houde & Olson 1992 (Paleocene)
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† S. copiosus Houde & Olson 1992
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Genus † Anneavis Houde & Olson 1992
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† A. anneae Houde & Olson 1992
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Genus † Eoglaucidium Fischer 1987
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Genus † Tsidiiyazhi Ksepka, Stidham & Williamson 2017 (Paleocene of New Mexico)
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† T. abini Ksepka, Stidham & Williamson 2017
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Family Coliidae Swainson 1837 sensu Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2004
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Genus † Celericolius Ksepka & Clarke 2010
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† C. acriala Ksepka & Clarke 2010
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Genus † Masillacolius Mayr & Peters 1998 (middle Eocene of Messel, Germany)
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† M. brevidactylus Mayr & Peters 1998
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Genus † Oligocolius Mayr 2000 (Early Oligocene of Frauenweiler, Germany)
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† O. brevitarsus Mayr 2000
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† O. psittacocephalon Mayr 2013
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Genus † Palaeospiza Allen 1878
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† Palaeospiza bella Allen 1878
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Genus † Primocolius Mourer-Chauviré 1988 (Late Eocene/Oligocene of Quercy, France)
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† P. sigei Mourer-Chauviré 1988
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† P. minor Mourer-Chauviré 1988
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Subfamily Coliinae
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Genus Urocolius (2 species)
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U. indicus (Latham 1790) (Red-faced mousebird)
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U. macrourus (Linnaeus 1766) (Blue-naped mousebird)
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Genus Colius Necrornis (4 species)
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† Colius hendeyi Vickers-Rich & Haarhoff 1985
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† Colius palustris (Milne-Edwards 1871) Ballmann 1969 ''Necrornis
[Peter Ballmann (1969): Les oiseaux miocènes de La Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère). – Géobios 2: p 157–204.][Storrs Olson (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds In: Avian Biology, No. 8: p. 79–238]
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C. castanotus Verreaux & Verreaux 1855 (Red-backed mousebird)
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Colius colius (Linnaeus 1766) (White-backed mousebird)
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C. leucocephalus Reichenow 1879 (White-headed mousebird)
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Colius striatus Gmelin 1789 (Speckled mousebird)
Footnotes
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Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext
External links
