video: Animation by Carla Schaffer at AAAS illustrates major branches of the avian tree of life, described by Erich Jarvis et al. This tree revealed the first divergence within extant Neoaves, resulting in two fully supported, reciprocally monophyletic sister clades that we named Passerea (after its most speciose group Passeriformes) and Columbea (after its most speciose group Columbiformes). This material relates to papers that appeared in the Dec. 12 2014 issue of Science, published by AAAS. view more
Credit: [Credit: AAAS/Carla Schaffer]